Blink and You'll Miss: Invasion
by Digidestined10
Summary: Sequel to Blink and You'll Miss. Hopefully this story can continue when season 3 of YJ comes out! Caution: there will be a few curse words throughout the story, you have been warned.
1. Happy New Year Pt 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own YJ, they belong to DC. I own my OCs.**

 _ **Somewhere by the Eastern Seaboard**_

 _ **January 1, 15:00 AST**_

'Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Looks like we'll be landing in Gotham City ahead of schedule. We'll be arriving in about thirty minutes. For now, please enjoy the rest of your time on the flight and thank you for choosing British Airlines.'

"About damn time," Mia mutters.

Evan chuckles. "We'll get there when we get there."

"You should've let me teleport us back," she whispers.

"Where's the fun in that?"

"At least we won't have to suffer going through immigration," Mia pouts and crosses her arms.

"That's just part of the experience. Grab some shut eye, you've barely slept the whole flight," Evan yawns a little.

Mia kisses his cheek. "I will in a bit."

"Alright."

Evan gets comfortable and soon falls fast asleep. She looks over at him smiling. Her hands running softly through his hair. Evan leans into her hand then settles down. _"God, I can't believe I'm getting married."_ Carefully removing her hand from Evan's head, Mia settles back in her seat and looks out the window.

The day's bright with huge puffs of clouds dotting the sky. Mia lets her imagination run wild making odd shapes from them. _"I wonder how everyone's doing."_ She mindlessly fiddles with her engagement ring then switches to her locket Jack sent her. _"Wait, the tape recorder. I can't believe I forgot about it for six years."_ Mia fishes out the tape recorder and plugs in her headphones. She's grateful the recorder has an auxiliary plug. The young Latina clicks play and hears two voices she hasn't heard in five years.

'Hi there Mia.'

She silently gasps.

'Will thought it would be a great idea to leave you a message on this recorder. He's such an old man sometimes.'

'Rose, will you stop making fun of me in front of Mia?'

'You know I can't do that. I'm supposed to make fun of you for the rest of our lives.'

'Of course, honey. Now do you want to tell her or shall I?'

'Why don't you do it? I need to do something really quick.'

'Hi Mia. What we wanted to tell you is, we know what really happened to your family and to tell you we're thinking of adopting you.'

Mia's heart stops for a few seconds. She pauses the tap and sits there to let it all sink in. _"They wanted to adopt me. I can't believe it."_ Mia finds the courage to continue listening.

'We have all of the forms ready and filled out, we just need to get someone to approve it. Once the forms are approved, you'll be living with us. I hope you're happy about our decision. Rose you want to add anything else?'

'Amelia, we want to say that these past three years with you have been wonderful. We want you to know that we love you and that—'

*gun shots*

Mia jumps in her seat by the sudden sound. She furrows her brows and listens intently to find out who made the shot.

'Who the hell are you?!'

'Where's the girl?' a deep voice demands.

" _Now who's that?"_

'What girl? We don't know who you're talking about.'

'That's too bad.'

Mia hears the click of the gun reloading. Two more rounds are fired and a body falling to the ground.

'Rose!'

Tears slide down her cheeks as she covers her mouth with her hand to muffle her soft cries.

'What do you want from us?!'

'I want to know where the girl is.'

'We already told you, we don't know the girl you're talking about.'

'I'll find her soon enough.'

The assailant reloads the gun and fired at Will three times. Will's body drops with a thud and he never got back up again. Mia almost stops the recording when the killer speaks into the recorder.

'I hope you heard that girl. This is all your fault, turn yourself in by July 25th and I'll spare their son. If you don't, he's as good as dead. Better hurry.'

It ends there. Mia listens to the last part again and commits to remember the killer's voice to memory. _"That bastard is going to pay for this, I swear,"_ Mia frowns deeply. She wipes away any leftover tears and tries to get some sleep. It didn't last long when the captain starts to talk again.

'Ladies and gentlemen. Please place your seats in the upright position and put away your trays. We are beginning our descent.'

She nudges Evan to wake up and follows the captain's orders. Soon they feel the plane safely land on the airstrip in Gotham City.

 _ **Gotham City International Airport.**_

 _ **January 1, 17:50 EST**_

Mia lets out a sigh of relief when she exited the airport. "Thank god!"

Evan chuckles behind her. "Come on Mia it wasn't that bad."

"We are never going through immigration again," she gives her fiancé a serious look, "Now, where's Stupid 1?"

The two look around until Mia spots a familiar figure standing by a limo with a sign **O'Brians P.S. Stupid 1 forgot.**

" _Of course, he did."_ "Come on, I found our ride."

Evan looks over to see the sign then back to Mia. "Who's that?"

"An old friend."

She begins to walk towards the limo and figure. Evan follows right behind her with their luggage in tow.

"Alfred," Mia hugs the man. "It's been too long."

"It has," he hugs her back, "I assume this must be Master Evan."

"Yes sir." Evan extends his hand, "Nice to meet you."

"The pleasure's mine." Alfred shakes his hand. "Shall we get going?"

Mia and Evan entered the limo while Alfred grabs the luggage and places them in the trunk. He enters the driver side and starts driving towards the manor.

"Where is he?"

"At the cave I'm afraid."

" _That asshole's dead."_ "I'm going to pop by over there. Please take care of Evan while I'm gone."

"Of course, Miss Amelia."

"Thanks Alfred," she looks over at Evan and kisses his cheek. "I'll see you later."

"Bye," he quickly kisses her lips.

"Be good."

"I will."

"That was for Alfred babe. Bye."

Mia disappears from the limo leaving behind the two men. The limo becomes eerily silent until Alfred speaks.

"Do you love her?"

"Yes sir," Evan nods.

"I'm sure you've been told numerous times about what would happen should you hurt her in any way."

"Yes."

"I will remind you one more time Master Evan." Evan grows silent. "Should I hear among the grapevines that you have hurt her, emotionally and/or physically, she won't have to worry about you anymore."

Evan nods vigorously and tries to calm his rapid heartbeat. _"Mia, how in the world do you know these people?"_

 _ **Mount Justice**_

 _ **January 1, 18:18 EST**_

"Recognized: Superboy, B05. Miss Martian, B06. Bumblebee, B18. Beast Boy, B20. Robin, B21. Blue Beetle, B23."

Everyone coming in from their mission start to relax when they stepped foot in the Cave.

"Welcome home, Angel Fish."

"Thank you, La'gaan."

M'gann and La'gaan started to kiss. Conner walks past them with an angry look on his face.

"I'm hitting the showers," he says.

"Now that sounds like a plan. You know, for you, hermano," Blue Beetle tells Beast Boy.

"Clayface is safely back in his Arkham cell," Robin tells Nightwing.

"Good work."

"I didn't do much, I just—"

'Emergency alert.' Captain Atom appears on the transmission, 'United Nations Headquarters is under attack.'

"Beta's only two blocks away," Mal informs Nightwing.

"Captain Atom, the Team's Beta squad is in the vicinity. ETA, three minutes."

The transmission ends. Nightwing goes to continue his conversation with Robin when he gets slapped upside the head. He quickly turns around to find Mia looking mad with her arms crossed and foot tapping.

"Mi—"

"Everyone out now," she speaks in a clam threatening tone.

"Who do you think you are—" La'gaan starts but M'gann stops him.

"La'gaan, let's go watch a movie for a bit."

She pulls him away before getting snapped like a twig by Mia. Mal calmly leaves knowing fully well about what Mia can do. Robin looks between Mia and Nightwing with worry. Mia notices and gives a soft smile. He understands so he leaves Nightwing alone to face her. _"Dick is so dead."_ When it's just the two of them, Mia explodes.

"Where the hell were you?! You're lucky as hell that Al was there when he came to pick us up. I can't believe you forgot Evan and I were coming back today on _my_ birthday. If you think that I'm going to forgive you for this then you've got another thing coming. I swear you—" Mia's swallowed into a hug cutting her off.

Nightwing tightens the hug and buries his face in Mia's neck.

"I've missed you so much Mia," he whispers.

Mia smiles and whispers back. "I've missed you too Dick."

He lets go of her and she takes a small step back.

She cups her hands around her mouth. "You guys can come back now. Nightwing is still alive unfortunately."

She winks at him. He just shakes his head. _"God I've missed her."_ Everyone comes back into the mission room including Wolf who tackles her to the ground and starts licking her face.

"Down boy." Mia laughs, "I've missed you too Wolf."

He continues to lick her face until Conner had to pull him back. Mia's still on the ground laughing then she gets up on her own. Conner walks up to her and gives her a giant bear hug.

Mia hugs back. "I've missed you too Con," she glances over at M'gann and La'gann then whispers in his ear, "You _will_ tell me what happened between you and Meg."

He nods then lets her go. Mia looks over to see Mal and smiles.

"Big M," Mia nods.

"Lil' M."

They do their secret handshake then end it with a fist bump. M'gann brings La'gaan over to introduce him to Mia.

"Mia this is La'gaan, my boyfriend. La'gaan, this is Mia also known as Blink. She's the Team's big sister."

La'gaan eyes her suspiciously while she just smiles at him.

"Nice to meet you Nia."

" _So, it's going to be like that. Well two can play at that game."_ "Pleasure to meet you Fish Sticks," Mia innocently smiles.

La'gaan growls so M'gann pulls him away.

"Mia," she looks over at Nightwing standing next to Blue Beetle. "This is one of our most recent member, Blue Beetle."

She takes in his appearance and starts to speak in fluent Spanish.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you."

He raises a brow. "You speak Spanish?"

"Of course," Mia smiles.

"I've never heard your accent before. Where are you from?"

"Isla Santo Miguel."

"Off Peru?"

"Yep."

"Cool. What's your name?"

Mia smirks. "Amelia Rosa Fuentes Ramires West-Allen O'Brian."

He lets out a long whistle. "You're definitely Hispanic."

"Thanks…."

"Jaime Reyes."

"Gracias Jaime."

"De nada."

Soon the two Spanish speakers start to have a conversation about food, music, and other things. It goes on for a few more minutes until a green hawk lands on Mia's shoulder.

She scratches his head. "Hey Garfield. I see you can turn into animals. Ready for a challenge?"

He nods then jumps down from her shoulder and lands on the floor.

"Cheetah." Garfield turns into it. "Husky." Done. "Gorilla." Check. "A velociraptor." He tries but fails and turns back into his human/monkey form.

Mia walks over and hugs him. "You'll get it. Don't worry."

"Thanks Mia," he smiles.

She smiles back.

Karen walks back in after hearing Mia's voice. "I hear someone's getting married."

Mia hugs her, "Karen! God I am. Didn't you get the announcement?"

"I did. So, when do we, specifically I, get to meet the fiancé?"

"After we've settled down from the trip. I'll throw a little something for you guys to meet him."

"Great."

"Now is there anyone else I need to see before I get back to my fiancé? I'm pretty sure he's losing his mind right about now," Mia announces.

The Twins casually walked in not even realizing their sister's back. They are so engrossed in their conversation they didn't even look in her general direction.

"Boys." They stop, stare at her with wide eyes, and smile brightly. "Are you too busy? Cause I can come back later."

"Mia!" they run over and hug her to death.

Soon all three are rapidly talking in Spanish. As they continue to talk, Nightwing leans in closer to Jaime whispering in his ear.

"Do you know what you're saying?"

"Sort of. They're talking so fast, even I can't get what their saying plus their dialect is different so there are some words that I don't know."

Mia looks down at her watch and sees the time.

She looks up at the group. "It was great seeing everyone again and meeting some of the new members. Unfortunately, I've got to get going and see the future hubby. I'm sure I'll see you guys again. Oh Mal,"

"Yeah?"

"You'll call me when someone does something stupid, right?"

"Of course," Mal smiles.

"Great," she smiles back. "Bye."

She teleports to the manor. Everyone leaves the mission room to finally relax but only the Twins stayed behind.

Tulio gives Miguel a worried look. "You have to tell her sooner or later."

He shakes his head. "Not yet. She just got back from vacation with Evan. I don't want her to worry about me."

"She'll find out eventually and you know she'll be devastated that you weren't the one who told her."

"What about you? Aren't you going to tell her?" Miguel counters.

A small blush appears on Tulio's cheeks and clears his throat, "I'll tell her when the time is right."

"Same here."

They nodded and went their separate ways with the same thought in mind, _"Mia's going to flip when she learns that I'm dating someone."_

* * *

Mia appears in the foyer and goes to find Alfred. She finds him in the kitchen making dinner. Slowly making her way to the stove to taste the sauce, Mia almost sticks her finger in the pot when a baterang nearly slices her finger off and lodges itself in the wall.

Mia looks over at him and huffs in annoyance. "Was that really necessary?"

"In this house it is," he responds without looking back.

"Fine. Do you know where Evan is?"

"I believe he's in the gym boxing with Master Bruce."

Mia chokes on her own spit."What?! Bruce is going to murder him!"

She runs as fast as she can to the gym.

"Perhaps I should've told her Master Bruce is only giving pointers," Alfred mutters as he finishes up dinner.

She makes it to the gym panting and watches Bruce showing Evan some new moves to use later in the future.

" _Oh, thank god."_ Mia straightens herself up and calmly walks over to the duo, "I'm back."

Evan looks over. "Hey honey," he walks to kiss her on the lips. "You didn't tell me you knew Bruce Wayne."

"You'd be surprised by how many people I know. Right Bruce?" Mia smirks.

Bruce slightly frowns then replaces it with a smile. "I would think so. Let's get going, I think Alfred's done with dinner."

"Mind if we freshen up a bit? Staying in a plane for eight hours can make one desperate for a hot shower."

"Go right ahead. We'll see you two shortly."

"Thanks again Mr. Wayne," Evan states.

"Please Evan, call me Bruce," he smiles. _"Barry trusts him but I still need to see for myself."_

Evan nods. He walks out with Mia. They reach their room and take a shower together. Kisses are exchanged between them. After the nice, well-deserving hot shower, they change into some comfortable clothes.

Mia wears jean shorts, a white tank top, a navy-blue cardigan and slippers while Evan wears black sweatpants, a white shirt, blue jacket and slippers. They walk to the dining room together with their hands intertwined. When the couple arrive, they see Bruce, Tim, Dick, and Barbara at the table waiting for them.

"Look who finally decided to show up. You two sure took your sweet time coming down," Dick smirks.

"At least I'm not hopping around like a rabbit unlike someone," Mia shoots him a look.

Dick starts to blush profusely causing Tim to hold back his laugh and Barbara to hide her smile while Bruce internally sighs. Alfred comes in at the right moment and gives Dick a bag of ice.

"What's this for Alfred?" Dick asks.

"For you sir. I believe you just got burned."

Everyone burst out laughing while Dick sinks into his seat and Bruce smiles. The rest of dinner is relaxing with witty banter being exchanged, mostly between Mia and Dick, and Barbara chimes in every now and then to gang up against Dick. Time for dessert and Mia takes a seat next to Babs. The two whisper about God knows what while glancing at the boys every now and then.

Evan whispers to Dick. "Why do I get the feeling they're planning our murders?"

"Knowing those two, they probably are. It was nice knowing you O'Brian."

"Same here Grayson."

The two shake hands and wait for the blows but nothing happens. They look at the girls to see sweet and innocent smiles which they automatically know they are about to suffer the girls' wrath.

Mia's the first to get up. "Well this has been a wonderful dinner. Unfortunately, I'm gonna have to turn in early. Hopefully I'll see everyone in the morning. Good night."

"I'm going to turn in too. It's been exhausting to hear her complain on the flight home," Evan jokes.

"Just for that comment, you're sleeping on the floor," Mia counters with a sly smile.

Evan pales a little. "It was a joke."

"Whatever you say honey."

Mia starts walking to their room with Evan hot on her trail apologizing. The Bat clan continue to hear the couple's banter until they can't anymore. At that moment is when the atmosphere becomes serious.

Dick looks over at Bruce raising an eyebrow. "Well?"

He slightly nods. "Show him tomorrow."

"Are you sure we can trust him?" Tim asks.

"If Mia and Barry trust him why shouldn't we? I'm positive he can keep a secret no matter what," Bab answers.

"The guys and I will still keep an eye on him," Dick offers.

Bruce shakes his head. "There's no need for that. Go ahead and show him everything."


	2. Happy New Year Pt 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own YJ, they belong to DC. I own my OCs.**

 _ **Gotham City**_

 _ **January 2, 14:25 EST**_

Mia and Evan are enjoying their time at the Manor. They relax, read in the library and cook lunch, or rather, creating a disaster in the kitchen but they quickly clean it up before Alfred notices. Now it's the early afternoon and they are by the fireplace playing Go Fish. Mia is winning.

"Just give it up O'Brian. Not even Wally could beat me at this game," she smirks.

"In your dreams O'Brian. I can still beat you, I've got a trick up my sleeve," Evan grins.

"Oh yeah? And what's that?"

"This," Evan leans over and kisses her deeply.

Mia sighs into the kiss and still notices Evan stealing her cards. She smiles into the kiss then grabs his hand and twists it a little.

Evan breaks away from the kiss wincing in pain, "Ow. Uncle, uncle, uncle."

Mia laughs. "Did you really think distracting me with a kiss would help you win? Babe, I was trained by the League of Shadows. Nothing gets past me, isn't that right Dick?"

Evan hears a low chuckle then watches Dick walk over to them from behind the sofa. She releases Evan's hand and continues to eye her old friend.

" _I'll never get use to this. God, our kids won't be able to get away with anything."_ Evan pauses for a second, _"Our kids. Wow, didn't think I would be able to even think about that possibility."_

"You and that training of yours Mia," Dick chuckles.

"Not just that. I also have eyes in the back of my head thanks to my sibling and the Team. So, what brings you to our game?" Mia cuts to the chase.

"Bruce wants us to show everything to Evan," Dick answers.

Mia's eyes go wide. "Everything?"

"Everything."

"Oh my god," Mia whispers.

"What's going on? What does Bruce want me to see?"

"It's better if I just show you. Come on you two."

Dick starts to walk away and the couple quickly follow him. _"I can't believe that Bruce is going to show him it. He must really trust him."_ The trio reach Bruce's study stopping in front of the grandfather clock. Evan starts to say something but Mia stops him. They turn their attention back to Dick. Dick changes the time on the clock, it unlocks, and moves to the right revealing a secret passage.

He walks in first. Mia goes second with Evan following her.

"Mia, where are you guys taking me?"

"You'll see," is all she says.

When they reached the end of the stairs, the lights turned on and Evan's jaw fell to the floor.

" _Holy shit."_ Evan remains in shock as he lets the fact sink in: Bruce Wayne is Batman. He sees the supercomputer, Batmobile, and all of Bruce's souvenirs from his various battles against Gotham's worst criminals.

"He...he's…" Evan looks over to Dick, "A-Are you Robin?"

Dick chuckles. "I was back when Mia and I first met. Now I'm Nightwing."

"So, Tim's Robin?"

"Yep."

"What about Barbara?"

"She's Batgirl," Mia answers.

"Alfred?"

Dick and Mia chuckle a little.

Dick responds, "To everyone else, he's known as Agent A. Don't let his age fool you, Alfred is one badass."

As Evan continues to look around, Mia takes his hand into hers and squeezes it. He turns his gaze at her to see a look of worry on her face.

"Mia, what's wrong?" he cups her cheek.

"Are you mad?"

"Why would I be mad at you?"

"Because I kept all of this," Mia gestures to the Batcave. "A secret from you and we don't keep secrets from each other."

Evan brushes his lips against hers. His eyes burning straight into hers, "I'm not mad and I understand why you kept this place a secret. Sure, you told me everything about you but you didn't out anyone's secret identity when you explained everything. I could never be angry with you. Everything you do has a reason behind it and I like to think that those reasons are for the right reasons."

Mia doesn't say anything instead she gives him a long passionate kiss. Dick glances away from the couple for a bit. _"I'm happy Mia found the right guy to spend the rest of her life with."_ He looks back when they finish kissing. The former Robin clears his throat to grab their attention.

"Mia, Bruce wanted to show Evan _everything._ "

"You mean…"

"Yep."

"And…"

"Oh yeah."

Mia smiles. "That's great! Oh, you might want to have a defibrillator ready for him," she points her thumb over at Evan.

"Why would I need a defibrillator?" Evan raises a brow.

"You'll see," Mia smirks.

The trio head over to the zeta tube and stand in front of it. While Dick's inputting Evan's authorization to use the zeta tube system, the machine commences to scan him for recognition. Evan has the urge to move but Mia keeps giving him the stink eye every time he twitches. He pouts a little causing Mia to giggle. She looks over at Dick with annoyance.

"Are you done over there Dick or are you on some naughty website?"

Evan chokes on his laugh. Dick shakes his head.

He groans. "Why in the world would you even ask that?"

"Is it true?" she crosses her arms and raises a brow.

"No, I'm not on a website and yes I'm done with everything over here. Let's test it out and meet the others."

"Wait you don't mean…" Evan trails off.

"Yep, you get to meet the Team. C'mon let's go," Mia smiles as she drags Evan over to the tube.

* * *

"Recognized: Blink, B04. Detective, A16."

The couple pass through the tube catching everyone's attention. The whole Team, past and present members, are in the room waiting with anticipation to see Mia and Evan.

"So, who haven't I said 'hi' to yet?"

Cass, Zatanna, and Raquel rush at her. They crowd her forcing Evan away from his fiancée. They chat up a storm. Suddenly, they stop as all of them turn to look at Evan. He notices.

"Not a bad catch Mia," Zatanna states as she checks him out.

Evan notices what Zatanna's doing and begins to turn red as a tomato.

"He being good to you? Cause if he's not, I'll take care of it," Raquel glares at him.

Mia chuckles. "He's amazing. Besides he knows not to hurt me since I practically have a horde of men ready to take him out. You're just gonna have to wait in line Raquel."

"Just making sure."

"Remind us again why you're marrying a cop?" Cass wonders.

"Detective. The only reason I'm marrying him is because the amount of love I have for him cannot be contained nor measured."

"Aw," the girls smile.

* * *

"Evan."

He turns to see Connor and instantly relaxes. "Hey Connor."

The two shake hands. He brings him over to meet the other members. Evan meets Mal, Karen, Jaime, Garfield, M'gann, La'gann, and Wolf. The CCPD detective already knows Tim, Barbara, Tulio and Miguel.

Mal towers over Evan with arms crossed. "So, you're going to marry Big M?"

"Yes," Evan states confidently.

They have a stare off.

Mal smiles and slaps his back. "Welcome to the family bro. So how did you two meet?"

"I was off-duty and saw a purse snatcher steal her purse. She was running after him but he was closer to me so I took him out. I gave her purse back, talked a bit then went our separate ways. The next time I saw her was at the station and agreed to go for coffee. The rest is history."

"You better take care of my girl. You hear me?" Karen orders.

Evan chuckles. "Yes ma'am."

Wolf walks over to him and starts smelling him. Evan crouches down so he's at eye level with Wolf. The two just look at each other. Wolf licks Evan's hand then his face. Evan pets Wolf causing to Wolf lay on the floor getting a belly rub from Evan.

"Wolf thinks you're okay," Connor says.

"How do you know?" Evan asks.

"He never lets anyone give him belly rubs unless it's either me or Mia. Wolf trusts you."

Evan looks at Wolf smiling. "Thanks bud."

Wolf suddenly gets up and races towards Mia. Mia pets him and nuzzles his nose with hers. She looks to the group.

"Babe, we gotta go. The in-laws want to see us."

"It's a pleasure meeting everyone. I hope all of you will be able to attend the wedding once we figure out a date."

The couple head for the zeta tube and leaves the Cave. The Team all had smiles on their faces except La'gaan. He just doesn't like Mia and doesn't trust her just yet.

 _ **Central City**_

 _ **January 2, 17:30 CST**_

The couple arrives at their apartment. They're surprised to see the rest of the Flash Family.

"Surprise!"

Evan and Mia laugh as they're hugged by everyone.

"How'd it go?" Barry asks.

"Evan knows everything."

"Everything?"

"Everything Dad."

There's a knock on the door. Mia walks over and opens it. The biggest smile in the world appears on her face.

"Wally! Artemis!"

The couple walks in. Each give her a hug. Artemis hands her a nice bottle of wine. Wally hands her a bouquet of flowers.

"I love them. Get in here."

Mia heads to the kitchen to put away the flowers and wine bottle. The couple go to greet Evan.

"Evan."

"Wally."

The two do a bro hug.

"Hi Evan."

"Hey Artemis," Evan smiles.

They hug too. Evan gives her a kiss to the cheek. Good thing Wally isn't the jealous type.

"You guys have fun?" Artemis asks.

"Yes. Did you know Mia managed to have fluent conversations with just about _everyone_ in every country we visited?"

"Well, she _is_ one of our language experts," Artemis answers.

"Mia can pick up on languages quite easily actually," Wally states. "Remember the time when the three of us got stranded on that island off the coast of Japan?"

"Yeah." Artemis smiles at Evan, "Wally here tried to communicate through charades and speaking slowly to an old man. He even told me to talk to him and what did I remind you Wally?"

He sighs with embarrassment. "You speak Vietnamese, not Japanese. Two _completely_ different languages."

"I know she didn't tell me this story. What happened next?" Evan wonders.

Mia silently watches her family. Just seeing them all together brings a smile to her face. Jay walks over to her.

"How's my favorite granddaughter?" he kisses her head.

"Fluttery."

He chuckles. "I know the feeling. Had that same feeling when I asked Joan to marry me; still have it too."

"You don't think I'm too young to marry. Do you Grandpa Jay?" she watches him nervously.

"Are you financially stable?"

"Yes, and then some."

"You love him?"

"I can't even measure how much I do."

"Then I say go for it but remember, it's not my opinion that matters it's yours."

Mia smiles. "Thanks Grandpa Jay."

"Anytime kiddo."

Barry finds Evan.

He smiles pulling his future son-in-law into a side hug. "You good?"

"I still can't believe Mia knows Bruce Wayne let alone everyone else."

"I told them they could trust you."

"How was the trip?" Iris asks.

"Amazing," Mia smiles.

"We would all love to hear about it but we should let you two get some rest."

Iris starts gathering everyone by the front door. Eventually everyone leaves. Lola comes out of hiding and tackles the couple to the ground. She starts purring.

"I've missed you too Lola," Mia kisses her.

"Come one Lola. We're going to order takeout. If you get up now, I'll even order your favorite from Benny's."

Lola jumps off of them and roars in appreciation. The couple laughs and goes to get ready for a night in. After having takeout for dinner, they head to bed and snuggle.

"Good night Mr. O'Brian."

"Good night future Mrs. O'Brian."


	3. Happy New Year Pt 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own YJ, they belong to DC. I own Mia!**

 _ **Mount Justice**_

 _ **January 3, 16:55 EST**_

"Recognized: Blink, B04."

Mia's not happy she's being called in the next day.

She speaks her mind. "Who in their right mind called me in? I swear to God somebody answer me or you'll truly know the meaning to 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'."

Nightwing chuckles. "Now there's no need to take it that far Mia. And the one who called you in is me, sorry."

She calmly walks over to him then judo flips him. No one moves a finger to help Nightwing since he's the one who called her in.

"Don't call me in while I'm trying to plan a wedding."

"Deal," Nightwing groans.

She helps him up. Suddenly a transmission from Batman appears.

'Nightwing, Superboy, Miss Martian and Blink report to the Watchtower.'

It ends as fast as it appeares. Mia groans. Nightwing can't stop smiling at her reaction.

"One more time for old time's sake?"

Mia sighs. "He knows that I'm still on reserves. Let me give Evan a heads up before we leave."

"I'm sure Batman informed him already."

She rolls her eyes. "Of course, he did. So, zeta or the O'Brian Express?"

"O'Brian?" Nightwing smirks.

Mia shrugs. "It's growing on me. Now seriously, who's going with me?"

"I'll go," Connor stands next to her.

"Anyone else?"

"We'll take the zeta tubes," M'gann answers.

"Suit yourself. Ready Con?"

He nods. Mia takes his hand and they teleport to the Watchtower.

* * *

'See? See? The big alien rips open the phony Secretary Zheng, and pulls out the little alien. Oh, I know what you're saying, folks. Good ol' G. Gordon's lost it. What's this? The eight billionth time he's run that clip? But that's because I'm trying to wake you up!

'Turn and look at the person next to you, my friends. How can you be sure he or she is even human? When is the almighty Justice League going to find a way to scan for these aliens? Who, exactly, are they trying to protect? Ok, sure, Superman and the Manhunter from Mars seem to be on the side of the angels, but that's two aliens in the good column and two in the bad. Let's see if we can get some answers!'

* * *

'Thanks Gordon. This is Cat Grant at the Hall of Justice. I'm going to try and get a statement from the two newest members of the League, Zatanna and Rocket.'

'No comment,' Zatanna says.

'Miss Grant, I've told you. The League will issue a statement soon,' Gubert closes the door.

* * *

'Did you see that folks? That was League public liaison Officer Katherine Gubert literally stonewalling GBS' own Cat Grant. What's the League hiding? We know it provides safe haven for a Kryptonian and a Martian, but what if that's not all? What if the Amazons came from outer space? Or the Atlantians? How do we really know Flash isn't an alien? Or Hawkman? Or Icon? What are they keeping from the real Earthlings? Like us!'

 _ **The Watchtower**_

 _ **January 3, 17:08 EST**_

"Recognized: Zatanna, 25. Rocket, 26."

"Big guy's Lobo. He's an intergalactic bounty hunter. Extremely dangerous but not likely to return."

"Thank God," Mia mutters.

"The little guy's another story. That's a Krolotean and Krolotean's always travel in packs," Green Lantern John states.

"A Krolo-what?" Mia asks.

Everyone turns to look at her like _Really?_

She scoffs. "Hey, I've been out of the game for a while. Cut me some slack."

"Meaning more of them are on Earth," Batman puts the focus back on the subject.

"I believe my friend may have vital information on that point," Manhunter turns everyone's attention to the blond man in a lab coat. "Some of you have not met Adam Strange of Star Lab's O'Dell Initiative. He is the scientist responsible for maintaining the zeta beam technology we use for teleportation."

"I was wondering why a stranger was allowed on the secret Watchtower," Connor states annoyingly through the mind link.

Mia elbows him. "Knock it off. You should be happy this man helps us with the zeta tubes."

"And he has a story to tell."

"Uh, it's a little involved. Ah, I wish I had visual aids or something," Strange says.

"I can assist you," Manhunter's eyes turn red. "We are all linked, Adam. What you remember, we will see."

"Uh…great?" "Well, I was performing a routine zeta two upgrade when something went wrong and I found myself transported halfway across the galaxy to a planet called Rann. There was a scientist there. Sardath. He was conducting his own experiments in enhanced, _very_ enhanced zeta beam technology. It took weeks to establish even basic communication, but Sardath eventually made me understand some of his zeta tech had been stolen."

"Fits the Krolotean M.O. Their entire culture revolves around stolen tech," Green Lantern John states.

"So, they're basically space rats," Mia comments.

"In a way, yes."

"Sardath detected transmissions between a single location on Rann and multiple locations on Earth. He was attempting to trace those when he accidently transported me to Rann. He gave me this," Strange pulls out a small device, "It detects traces of radiation, and can pinpoint all the locations where Kroloteans have beamed to Earth."

"Then I'm ordering a two-pronged attack. We'll stage simultaneous raids on every Krolotean target on Earth, while a contingent of Leaguers travels to Rann with Strange here to cut the Kroloteans off at the source," Captain Atom strategizes.

"Ahem, we might have a problem with that second prong." Strange pulls up pictures, "Totally unclear on the why, but Earthlings are persona non grata in Rann's corner of the galaxy. And these six Leaguers are wanted criminals."

"What?!" G.L. John shouts as he sees the picture of himself.

"Excuse me doc but could you run that by me again? You're saying that six members of the League are criminals. Please tell me it's a joke," Mia comments.

"Batman, it's the missing 16 hours!" Nightwing says.

"Agreed. Five years ago, Vandal Savage took complete mental control of the entire Justice League. These exact six Leaguers went missing for 16 hours," Batman explains.

"It never even occurred to us that Vandal might have sent us into space. I'll alert Hal. He and Guy are on Oa with the Green Lantern Core."

"Meanwhile, we have 15 other active Leaguers to send to Rann to investigate," Captain Atom states.

"You're not getting it. There's a planetary watch alert out on Rann for every Leaguer."

"Not all of us are Leaguers. I can send a squad to handle the Rann end of things and to find out more about those missing 16 hours without causing an intergalactic incident," Nightwing adds.

Right as Nightwing said 'Not all of us are Leaguers', Mia pales tremendously at the mere thought of going back in so quick. _"No, I-I can't."_ Mia remains silent. Her heartrate quickly rises.

"Do it," Captain Atom orders.

"Uh, if you're going, don't wear that shirt," Strange tells Connor.

The four of them head back to the tubes when Raquel and Zatanna stop them.

"You know that thing about you not being Leaguers…you four still have an open invitation to—" Zatanna starts off.

"We know Z," Nightwing smiles.

"But we're pretty happy…" M'gann says.

"Where we are," Connor finishes the sentence.

"Plus, I'm not sure I'm coming back to the Team," Mia adds.

"Just think about it Mia," Zatanna softly says.

Nightwing, M'gann, and Connor head back to the Cave. Mia teleports back to the apartment.

* * *

"I'm home," Mia closes the door and heads straight for the kitchen.

Evan walks in and kisses her head. "Everything okay? You look stressed."

Mia groans, "I'm sure Bats told you about me going up to the Watchtower."

"He did. What happened?"

"Long story short. Space rats have begun to impersonate people, steal advanced tech from a planet on the other side of the galaxy and are coming back to Earth at various locations. Plus the entire Justice League can't go to said planet without creating an intergalactic incident."

"Wow."

"I know."

"Are you going to help?"

Mia pauses. She's been out for nearly two years. Can she go back in so quickly?

"Evan, I-I don't know if I can."

He turns her head so she can look right at him.

"I know you can. Mia when we were on our trip, I knew that you were training and that you were hiding it from me," he smiles.

Mia sighs. "I'm sorry Evan."

"You don't have to apologize. I know the feeling of not being able to do what you love, trust me," he winks.

She lays her head on his chest. "I don't know what to do."

"What does your heart tell you?"

"To help them."

"But…"

"But I'm scared Evan," she looks up at him with tears in her eyes, "Scared that I won't have a family, have kids or grow old but the one thing that I'm terrified about is leaving you alone before we even get married."

Tears trickle down her cheeks. Evan gently cups her face and wipes away her tears. He starts to give light kisses all over her face.

"I'll never be alone. You don't have to be scared about any of those because they will happen. Trust me."

"Ok."

They kiss and spend the rest of the night watching movies.

 _ **Mount Justice**_

 _ **January 4, 20:00 EST**_

"It's all hands on deck. The League and the Team will hit all 14 Krolotean zeta locations simultaneously. Your priorities are to destroy all zeta tubes or platforms and search for any humans the aliens may have abducted. As always Mal is Ops Manager, coordinating com from here," Nightwing states.

"Come on Alpha squad," La'gaan mutters.

"Wonder Girl, Dragons, you three and I are Alpha."

"Yes!" she mutters.

The Twins fist bump.

"Neptune's Beard!"

"Assignment: Philadelphia."

"Ok. Ok. Give me Beta."

"Batgirl, Bumblebee, you two, Wolf and Lola are Beta." La'gaan groans. "Assignment: Vlatavastok. Robin, La'gaan, Beetle and Blink, you're Gamma. Prep the Bio-ship. You're headed to New Orleans."

Mia tugs on her glove. "You got it."

"Gamma always gets the soft gig," La'gaan complains as he walks away with Jaime.

"Oh great. Another Mr. Sunshine," Mia thought as she waits for Tim.

"Tim, you'll be running Gamma."

"Me? Dick, I've never led a squad before."

"Making this a good opportunity to get your feet wet as a field leader."

"Because it's Gamma and you're not expecting trouble, or because we're stretched thin and you have no choice?"

"Just don't die, okay?" Tim's eyes go wide at Nightwing's plea. "And no unnecessary risks to the squad. That's an order. Plus, you've got Mia. If you need any help just ask her."

Mia wraps an arm around Tim's shoulders. "You got this Tim. Just like Dick said, you can ask me for help. Besides I know a thing or two about keeping a bunch of teenagers in place, isn't that right Dick?"

She looks at him with a raised eyebrow. He grins. With that said, Mia leads Tim to the Bio-ship where La'gaan and Jaime are waiting for them.

 _ **New Orleans**_

 _ **January 4, 21:59 CST**_

The Bio-ship reaches a junkyard by the port and hovers over it.

"A tool shed? Barely enough room for one zeta tube in there. I knew we got the soft gig," La'gaan complains.

Mia sighs. "Do you always complain? Look, just because we're Gamma doesn't mean we're not as important as the other squads. All of us have our part to do so this plan can go on without a hitch. Now suck it up buttercup because not everything is at it seems."

" _I'm glad Mia's here with us,"_ Tim smiles.

"And yet, I'm strangely ok with that," Jaime leans back. "Yes, I am. Yes, I am. Yes, I am!"

The other three stare at him weirdly.

"Gamma squad to Cave. We're in position," Tim states.

A small image of Mal appears on a hologram. Mia looks at it with surprise.

'Acknowledged, Gamma. All team squads and Justice League units are in place and ready. Go time.'

"Love the new tech," Mia tells Tim.

"That's not all we got."

"Sweet."

The hangar door of the Bio-ship opens. All four of them jump out landing on top of old junk cars. Tim motions Jaime to destroy the shed. and his arm turns into a sonic weapon. The weapon destroys the tool shed. La'gaan jumps down to inspect the damage. He kicks over a tool box.

"Congratulations, Blue. You took out an actual tool shed."

"This is too easy. My gut tells me this isn't over yet," Mia softly says.

"Gamma to Cave. There's no zeta tube here. No Kroloteans, no hidden entrance," Tim calls it in.

'Watchtower sensors still read trace zeta radiation from the site,' Mal responds.

Tim uses a zeta radiation locator. "Confirmed. But the radiation signature is coming from…below the water line."

"Who's ready for a little night swim?" Mia asks rubbing her hands together.

"You're up," he tells La'gaan.

La'gaan dives into the Gulf and soon finds the hidden entrance to the Kroloteans hide out. He taps his comlink and the others dive right in. They swim to the entrance. Tim motions La'gaan to open it. He uses his Atlantian magic to make himself bigger and holds open the gate.

" _Cool,"_ Mia thought as they swim through. They continue to until they reach an air pocket and slowly break the water's surface. All of them are shocked at the massive size of the platforms and the amount of Kroloteans here.

"Still think Gamma gets the soft gigs?" Mia whispers La'gaan.

The four of them crawl and hide behind a small wall so they won't be spotted.

"Gamma to Cave. We hit the mother load. Huge base. Alien tech. Multiple zeta, huh, platforms. And more Kroloteans than I can count," Tim calls it in.

'Acknowledged. We'll send back up. Until then, lay low.'

"That may be a problemo, ese," Jaime states.

All four find to see their faces on security screens. La'gaan turns to find a security drone then all of them see it too. Mia throws a dagger at it, destroying it in the process but it's too late. Soon the Kroloteans begin to come after them like a swarm of ants.

"Soft gig, huh?" Jaime tells La'gaan.

"Thanks for jinxing us," Mia slaps him upside the head.

* * *

'Beta to Cave. We found a zeta platform, the kind Strange described. There were two Kroloteans here, but they zeta'd away before we could apprehend. No human prisoners,' Batgirl reports.

"Acknowledged. Destroy the platform and report back," Mal orders.

'Alpha to Cave. One platform, now non-operational. One Krolotean escaped. Zero abductees,' Nightwing calls in.

"League units are getting the same results. Ditto Beta."

'And Gamma?'

"Yeah, about them…"

* * *

The boys looked to Tim while Mia's getting ready to fight.

"Now or never Rob," she says.

"Form up! Blue, you have our six!"

"Si, hermano."

"Stay liquid, minnows."

"Don't do anything stupid!" Mia warns.

All of them rush into battle. Tim and La'gaan use their abilities to take down the Kroloteans while Jaime covers their backs. Mia, on the other hand, is having the time of her life. _"God I've missed this."_ She doesn't use her daggers instead, Mia uses her hand-to-hand combat skills. No matter how many Kroloteans they take out, more and more just keep coming.

Jaime notices everyone being overrun by the Kroloteans. He uses his sonic weapon to get rid of them. One of the Krolotean leaders spots Jaime and speaks in their language. The other Kroloteans stop, look at Jaime and begin to retreat using the zeta platforms.

"Wow! They really don't like you. I'm a little jealous," La'gaan says.

Jaime tries to hear what the leader's trying to say. "He said what?!"

"I said I'm jealous. Don't rub it in."

"Hey! Less talking and more fighting," Mia shouts as she takes down a few more Kroloteans.

"Not you! That jefe over there."

"Wait! You can understand this screeching? How!" Tim asks.

"Blue!" Mia scolds.

"I-I don't know, exactly. But I can. Jefe is ordering all the Kroloteans to zeta off-world. He's setting this base to self destruct in four minutes!"

"Ah hell no! There's no way I'm dying by fiery explosion on my first day back," Mia complains.

"Then we're getting out. Anything else I need to know?" Tim asks.

"No se. He said something about sacrificing the play things below?"

"Play things? Oh, man, the abductees!"

"Three minutes 30, ese, then boom!"

"And Nightwing said no unnecessary risks to the squad."

"Robin," he looks at Mia, "Some orders aren't meant to be followed."

"But this is necessary."

" _Atta boy."_ Mia smiles at how much Tim has grown since she last saw him.

"Below! We have to get below!"

"There!" La'gaan points to a row of entrances where the Kroloteans are leaving from.

"Beetle on point, go!"

"Going!"

Jaime knocks down the Kroloteans in his way using a battering ram. Before La'gaan or Tim moved, Mia grabs their arms and teleports them to the entrance tubes. All three slide down the tube just in time to see Jaime knock down a Krolotean.

"Grab him!" Tim orders.

Jaime does. Out of nowhere, a different voice speaks out. It grabs their attention.

"Hello? Is someone there? Please, get us out!"

Tim and Mia race to the cage filled with abductees.

"It's Robin!"

"The Boy Wonder!"

"And Blink!"

" _Guess there are people that know me."_ Mia smiles gently at them so that they won't be scared.

"Thank Heaven."

La'gaan and Jaime come over to help but only scares them more. The hostages move to the back of the cage.

"More aliens!"

"Go away!"

"Hey, we're not aliens!" Jaime complains then looks to the Krolotean and points at him. "Okay, well, he is. But we're not!"

"Get this open."

La'gaan becomes bigger and rips open the cage in half. The abductees scream in terror.

"Thank you. We didn't mean—"

"It's fine. I get that a lot, chum."

Mia goes to gather the other abductees. A woman clutches her wrist.

"Please don't make us go with them," the woman stares at Jaime and La'gaan with fear.

"If they were going to hurt you, why would they help free you?" the woman goes silent. "That's what I thought. In the future, stop judging people based on their looks," Mia frowns at the woman.

"Ask him the fastest way out," Tim orders.

"Dude, I don't speak the—Wait, you can? Well, what are you waiting for?"

Mia appears next to the guys with the other prisoners behind her.

"Is Blue ok?"

Tim remains silent.

La'gaan just says. "Blue's an odd little fish, isn't he?"

Jaime and the Krolotean have a conversation.

He turns to Tim screeching then switches to English, "I mean, this way! Come on!"

Everyone starts to run towards the exit while Mia stays in the back to make sure no one gets left behind. After the last of the abductees gets out safely, Mia notices she isn't going to make it. _"I will NOT die tonight."_ She quickly teleports right as the base explodes.

The abductees gasp as they break the water's surface. Jaime pops up then Tim.

"Where's La'gaan?"

He pops up. "That's right! Gamma squad rules."

Tim almost relaxes. He finally notices that Mia isn't among them. His body goes stiff as a board. _"Where's Mia?"_ his eyes widen. "Anyone seen Blink?"

"Uh…Rob?" Jaime says.

Everyone turns their heads to the entire Justice League surrounding them. The super cycle appears with Wolf, Lola, Nightwing, Wonder Girl, Batgirl, Bumblebee and the Dragons.

"Dude! Way to get your feet wet," Nightwing smiles at Tim.

Miguel notices Mia isn't among them and gets worried. He nudges Tulio then he gets worried too. Tulio whispers into Nightwing's ear and his eyes go wide with shock. _"No, not Mia. Not tonight."_

He stands up and before he says a word, a familiar voice yells out "Incoming!"

Nightwing looks up in time to see Mia falling. He easily catches her in his arms.

Mia sighs. "Nice catch. A lot better than all those years ago."

"Haha very funny."

Mia looks around to see familiar faces and looks at the water to see her teammates. "You know, I'm getting a feeling I've been in this type of situation before," she winks at Tim.

He smiles.

" _Thank God she's okay,"_ Tim and Nightwing both thinking.

* * *

As the Team was heading back to the Cave, Mia slaps Tim, La'gaan and Jaime's heads.

"Hey!" they complained.

She doesn't say a word. Nightwing answers for her, "You guys did something stupid didn't you?"

"M-Maybe," Jaime stutters.

"Why?" La'gaan asks.

Nightwing smiles. "Back when I was Robin, she called KF and I Stupids 1 and 2. She still does but only as a term of endearment. So congratulations! You're now the new group of Stupids."

"Robin, you're Stupid 4. Lagoon Boy, Stupid 5. Blue Beetle, Stupid 6," Mia says with a smile.

"What about Superboy?" Nightwing asks.

"Oh, he's still Stupid 3. Unlike someone I know," she eyes Nightwing. "Supey rarely does stupid things."

"Same ol' Mia."

 _ **Mount Justice**_

 _ **January 4, 23:20 EST**_

Evan's pacing back and forth worried about Mia. Mal notices and stops Evan in his tracks.

"O'Brian. Breathe. She's okay and they'll be here soon."

"I know that but I can't stop worrying. Is it always like this? The waiting?"

"Nightwing will personally make sure that Mia will come back to you. I think he's more scared of losing her than you are of losing her."

The Team walks in. Evan instantly relaxes when he spots Mia with her cowl down. He runs to her. She sees him.

"Hey hon—"

Evan pulls her into him and doesn't let go. He hides his face in her neck as he lets out a shaky breath.

Mia smiles and hugs back whispering. "I'm alright. I'm back."

He lifts his head to look right at her. "Are you okay?"

"Cuts and bruises are no strangers to me. I'll live."

They touch foreheads. They are so involved in their own little world they barely notice the Team.

"Awww," the girls said.

Mia glances over at the Team with a sheepish smile, "Oops."

Evan looks over too and blushes. "Well," he licks his lips, "We should get going. I think they've seen enough."

"Bye!" Mia waves then teleports herself, Evan and Lola back to the apartment.

As the others go to turn in for the night, Tim looks to Nightwing with worry.

"Are you sure that Mia should be back?"

"She can handle it. She's tougher than she seems."

"But Dick—"

"Don't worry about her. I'll make sure she gets back in one piece every time."

Tim only nods and leaves Nightwing alone with his thoughts. He stands there making a silent oath to ensure Mia will never die on his watch.


	4. Earthlings

**Disclaimer: I do not own YJ, they belong to DC. I own my OCs.**

 _ **Mount Justice**_

 _ **January 5, 08:30 EST**_

Mia patiently waits for Zeta squad to return at the Cave. She decides to look around the place to see if anything had changed. Walking through the Cave, almost everything stayed the same except there's more people staying at the Cave so the empty rooms are finally filled.

They turned the grotto into a monument for the fallen. She doesn't see all of those who had fallen in the line of duty because she doesn't want to see the images of Jason and Tula. Mia walks back up the stairs and heads to the gym to get a good workout.

A few hours pass and her stomach starts growling. She grabs a towel and wipes off the sweat on her forehead and chugs all of her water in one gulp. Mia doesn't bother changing out of her workout clothes and heads to the kitchen to cook lunch. When she reaches the living room, Mia finds her brothers, La'gaan, Mal and Jaime lounging around watching some action movie. She sneaks up behind Mal. Her brothers notice but doesn't warn Mal.

She softly whispers into Mal's ear. "Boo."

He jumps out of his seat screaming "Holy shit!" and falls onto the ground.

The guys break out laughing. Mia sends him an apologetic smile.

"Sorry Mal. I couldn't let the opportunity slip away."

"Jesus Mia," Mal pants a little, "Give a guy a heads up."

"But where's the fun in that?"

Mal just shakes his head and gets back up only to sit back down on the couch.

"How long have you been here sis?" Miguel asks.

"A few hours. I'm about to make lunch. Did you guys eat yet?"

All of them point at the coffee table filled with junk food bags and wrappers.

Mia shakes her head. "That's not lunch, that's being pigs. I thought you guys were heroes and ate healthy, not this shit."

Jaime shrugs. "We don't know how to cook, ese."

"Bullcrap. Miguel and Tulio know how to cook and they're men. So, what's the problem then?" she crosses her arms.

"Isn't it the woman's job to cook?" La'gaan asks.

The guys go stiff at what La'gaan instigates. Their expressions: pale and nervous. They look at Mia. _"La'gaan's going to die,"_ they all thought as they continued to watch Mia.

Her eyebrow twitches. She strains to smile, "Do you really think that La'gaan?" _"He better pick his next words carefully."_

"Well of course—" La'gaan was cut off.

"Not!" Jaime states, "He doesn't actually think that."

"Yes I—"

Mal quickly covers La'gaan's mouth with his hand. Mia raises her eyebrow. Mal just smiles at her.

She looks to her brothers. "You guys want to help? We're pulling out all the stops."

"Sure," they say.

The Ramires West-Allen siblings head into the kitchen to cook a feast fit for a king.

 _ **Ranagar**_

 _ **January 4, 22:17 UTC**_

"Whoa!" Garfield turns to the group smiling, "I am totally walking on an alien planet. Wow, sis, you must say that like every day on Earth."

"Actually, I kind of do."

"Wait. We can breathe the air here, right?"

"Adam! Adam!" someone calls out.

A girl and a scientist come over to greet them.

"Ol fao aeli vier qu, A-dahm!"

"Um, great. I think. Zeta squad, these are my Rannian friends-Sardath and his daughter Alanna," Connor and M'gann give each other looks when Strange stares at Alanna.

"Sardath cho Alanna…olf fao Miss Martian, Superboy ul Beast Boy…leps Urth," Strange introduces.

Sardath bows. "Lam talsa, Earthlings. Fao A-dahm ilioc qu duss maol ao Apic-Zeta?"

They look to Strange for translation. The man only shrugs.

"I'm still figuring out the language. This is usually when we start playing charades."

M'gann gets an idea. Her eyes glow green. Sardath and Alanna wince at the pain they feel in their heads.

"What was that?" Alanna asks.

Connor frowns at M'gann's action.

"Such an odd sensation," Sardath states.

"Wait, you're speaking English," Strange smiles.

"No, they're not, but I linked us mentally, and I'm serving as a psychic translator. They speak Rannian, we speak English, but all now hear the language they understand," M'gann explains.

"Amazing."

"It will make communicating so much easier," Alanna stands in front of Strange.

"Perhaps we should take this inside. It is wise to use caution when harboring Earthlings," Sardath suggests after hearing sirens off in the distance.

They head into the lab. Garfield instantly perks up.

"Alien animalage! Cool!" he walks toward the Rannian bird.

"Sardath, have you learned anything more about why Earthlings are unwelcomed in this corner of the galaxy?" Strange asks.

Sardath sighs. "The Rannian Science Command is xenophobic in general. Which is why my research in interplanetary zeta beam travel is being conducted quietly."

"And why you haven't reported the theft of your technology."

"Exactly. If Science Command learned I made it possible for aliens, especially you Earthlings, to zeta here to Rann, the consequences could be dire for myself and my daughter."

"I still don't get it. Why the big hate for Earthlings? How do they even know any Earthlings to hate?" Connor asks.

"I assumed Adam showed you this. We are still unclear on the details," Alanna starts off.

"Science Command is not inclined to share intelligence with its people," Sardath finishes.

"But we have learned there was an incident on the planet Rimbor involving Earthling criminals known as the Justice League."

"I assume you are not associated with these outlaws."

"We are not members of the League," M'gann answers truthfully.

"Only these six were on Rimbor," Sardath shows snapshots of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern John, and Hawkwoman. "But since then, the Kroloteans have posted planetary watch alerts for every criminal in the League."

Strange finally realizes something. "The Kroloteans. That's who stole your zeta platform tech. They used it to secretly invade Earth, which is how they found out about the other Leaguers."

"I know. I told you that the last time you were here."

"Of course. Kroloteans. Right. I misunderstood you. I thought it was just the Rannian word for 'thief'."

"It might as well be," Alanna says.

 _"Or rats,"_ Connor thought. "Yeah, Krolotean culture revolves around stolen tech. We heard. Question is, what do we do about it?"

"My father's zeta shield will help," Alanna pulls up a hologram diagram of the zeta shield.

"If I can perfect the design, your primitive zeta tubes would still function withing the confines of the Earthling atmosphere, but unauthorized travel to and from other words will become impossible. In short, my shield will prevent more Kroloteans from invading your world via zeta beam while trapping any still entrenched there."

 _"How will this effect Mia? Even if she can teleport to other planets, what would happen to her?"_ Connor thought.

"And in the meantime, Adam tells us you've located the Krolotean platform here on Rann," M'gann says.

"Indeed. But the jungles of Rann can be dangerous. You Earthlings will need a guide."

"I'll go, father. You must complete your work on the zeta shield."

"But transportation out of the city or Ranagar is also not without risks, Alanna. We must disguise these Earthlings."

"Look, enough with this Earthlings thing. I'm half Kryptonian. And Miss Martian is…Martian," Connor states with annoyance.

"You came here from Earth, did you not?"

"Yeah, but we're not…" Connor sighs, "Never mind."

 _ **Mount Justice**_

 _ **January 5, 13:25 EST**_

Everyone sighs in bliss after lunch.

"I haven't had a home cooked meal in a long time," Mal says as he pats his full stomach.

"I know what you mean." He burps. "Mia is the best cook in the family," Miguel states.

*smack*

"Ow!" he rubs his head and glares at said sister.

"You didn't say "excuse me" and I raised you better than that," she pouts.

"Whatever."

*smack*

"Ow!" he glares at his twin.

"Stop bickering with her," Tulio warns.

Mia looks to Jaime and La'gaan. "Well?"

Jaime smiles. "It was delicious. Best I've ever had besides my mother's food."

"Of course," she smiles in return.

She looks to La'gaan with a raised brow.

He looks away mumbling. "It was good."

"Sorry. I couldn't quite hear that. Care to repeat?"

He sighs. "It was good," he speaks a bit louder.

Mia smirks. "Now was that so hard to say?"

La'gaan grumbles. Mia chuckles then stood up to gather the dishes. She carries all of them expertly to the dishwasher and places them in.

She heads back to them with a smile "You guys want to help me with something?"

Her brothers were going to respond when their phones went off. They checked their phones and there was a soft smile on each of their faces. Mia raises a brow. _"Well that's weird. Never seen them smile like that before."_

Miguel quickly clears his throat. "Sorry sis. Gotta go," Miguel stands up, gives her a kiss to the cheek and leaves.

Tulio stands up as well. "We'll be back later," he kisses her cheek and follows Miguel.

She looks to the remaining guys waiting for their response.

"I'm not busy at the moment," Mal says.

"Same," Jaime answers.

"I'm going for a swim," La'gaan leaves the room.

"What do you need Big M?" Mal asks.

"Can you operate the Bioship?"

"Yeah."

"Perfect. I want to teleport to the moon," she smiles brightly.

Mal and Jaime look to each other nervously. Jaime speaks first.

"Are you sure you want to do that hermana?"

"Look, the farthest I've traveled to is the Watchtower. I know that I can travel further than that and the best way to do that is practice."

Mal stands up placing his hands on her shoulders. "If anything happens to you on my watch, no one would ever forgive me."

"They will, you know why?" He gives her an odd expression. "Because I will come back from the dead and give them an earful. I'll be fine, don't worry Mal," she smiles.

"At least let me get Green Lantern to help. Just in case."

"Deal."

"I'll go prep the Bioship," Mal leaves for the hangar.

Jaime was still worried and Mia notices.

"It's ok Jaime. I got this," she winks then leaves to get ready.

Jaime frowns a little. He hears a voice and responds.

"Yes, I'm worried about her. No, I don't love her. You're impossible to be with."

 _ **Rannian Jungle**_

 _ **January 5, 00:15 UTC**_

"Where did all those Kroloteans come from?" Alanna asks.

"Earth, I think. Our teammates were set to raid their Earth bases about now," M'gann answers.

"Can't you just translate their thoughts and find out for sure?" Garfield wonders.

"Their minds are too alien. It would take hours, maybe days, to learn their language psychically. And I definitely couldn't do it without them noticing."

"Hmm. Noted."

Connor stops when he hears branches breaking behind them in the distance. "They're following us. Or something is. Something big." He uses his infrared vision and finds two mechanical bug like thing coming for them. "Move!"

Soon all four of them run through the jungle trying to get away from the Mechs. They break off into two groups and run in different directions. Connor and Alanna quickly find shelter in a cave with vines covering the entrance.

"Hurry, in here."

They make it in time just as both Mechs walk by the entrance. Both of them sigh in relief.

"Superboy, Alanna, are you—" M'gann asks.

"Safe for now. You?"

"We lost them."

"Now can we blow this popsicle stand?" Garfield asks M'gann.

"Now we stay put, give their patrols a chance to move on. We'll meet up below the mag rail when it's safe."

"And then regroup with Adam and my father to determine what to do about this Krolotean base."

"M'gann, be careful."

"You, too, Connor."

"So, how long were you and she together?"

Connor sighs. "All my life."

"You want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Oh. Can she hear us?"

Connor sits next to her. "It doesn't work that way. The translation's basically automatic. She's not conscious of what we say out loud."

"Well, then talk. I live light-years away, so you'll never see me again. Makes me the perfect confidant."

He sighs again. "It's complicated. And weird."

"Hey, I have a crush on an alien from another planet. Who am I to judge?"

"You asked for it. See, I'm a clone. Force grown in the span of a few months to look like this. M'gann somehow saw I could be more than the weapon I was created to be. Another girl, Mia, is the same way but she took it a step further and started to treat me like I'm family. That's the first time I knew what it's like to have a sister."

"Complicated, but sweet. Go on."

"M'gann's a shapeshifter. To her, looks are clothing for the mind inside, easy to change. But I'm the opposite. It's become clear the processes used to create me had a side effect. I don't physically age, at all. I'm not immortal. I'm aging internally. But I'll always look—"

"This good?"

"Standard blessing and curse."

"Seems like a shapeshifter would be the perfect match for someone suffering from your condition."

"I used to think so. Anyway, she's with La'gaan now. He's kind of a jerk, but he's good to her."

"Well, it's obvious she still has feelings for you. Perhaps she regrets leaving you for him."

"She didn't. I dumped her. She left me no choice."

* * *

'Mia, are you sure about this?'

"For the nth time, yes Mal I'm sure. Ready GL?"

'I still say this is dangerous. You're just like Flash, I swear you were meant to be his daughter.'

"Aw thanks. Now get ready."

Mia wears a space compression suit, built by WayneTech, and puts on her helmet. _"Let's do this."_ She closes her eyes and concentrates. A second later she feels weightless but solid beneath her feet. Opening one eye, she looks around then opens the other and fully takes in the scenery before her.

"Oh wow," she whispers.

Mia can see how blue the Earth is. She can't stop smiling.

'Mal to Blink. Are you there? Mia!'

"I'm here Mal. I made it," she pauses, "You really need to see this."

'I'll stick with the Bioship thanks.'

"Alright. So now we know I can teleport to the moon. Let's see if I can make it to Mars."

'NO!' Mal and John shouted.

"Sorry couldn't quite hear that. Must be static. I'll send you a postcard from Mars."

Right as Mia readies herself to teleport, something starts moving up her throat. She coughs it out and it splatters on the inside of the helmet; blood and it's a darker shade than normal.

"Well that's not good."

'What? What happened?' Mal asks.

"It's nothing too—" she throws up blood in her helmet

They hear it.

'Mia get out of there now!'

'I got her!'

John quickly finds her. Using his ring, he puts her in an air bubble. Mia struggles to get the helmet off so John takes it off. She breathes again but soon enough she starts to throw up more blood.

"We need to get you to the Med Bay at the Watchtower now."

Mia shakes her head. "No, I'm...I'm good. It'll pass."

"Barry will kill me if anything happens to you."

"I'm a grown woman. If I say I'm fine then..." she throws up again, "I'm fine."

"Tough luck. We're going now. Mal, meet us at the Watchtower's Med Bay."

'Acknowledged.'

John quickly arrives at the Watchtower with Mia in the bubble. Once inside, he flies to the Med Bay with her in his arms. Just his luck, John runs into Barry who's stocking the Med Bay.

Barry turns around. "John, what are you—" he sees Mia in John's arms with blood dripping down her chin, "What happened?!"

Barry grabs Mia and places her on the bed in a blink of an eye.

"It's...It's nothing Dad," Mia softly says as she gets paler by the second.

Mal runs in right after she speaks.

He pants. "She was practicing..." still panting, "Wanted to see if she can teleport to the..." Mal breathes heavily, "moon."

"It's true," John says.

"Are you out of your goddamn mind?! You could've killed yourself! The last time you did something this reckless was when you teleported here when you were sick as a dog. What were you thinking?!" Barry yells.

John places a hand on his shoulder. "Barry, calm down. She's still alive and breathing. Let's get her fixed up _then_ you can have this conversation later."

Barry sighs. "You're right," he looks at Mia with fatherly concern, "Let's see about that nasty blood thing and get that taken care of."

"I just wanted to make myself more useful to the Team. If I can teleport to other planets then we won't have to use the Bioship," Mia explains.

He hushes her. Barry places his hand on her forehead, "Try not to talk. Get some rest."

Mia slowly closes her eyes while the machine was fixing her up. He turns to look at Mal and John expecting answers from them.

"This is the first time I'm hearing about this. I'll give Nightwing the heads up about it," Mal states.

"I was just there as back up in case she missed."

"Thanks. For helping her."

"Anything for Mia."

John just nods. Barry looks back at his daughter thinking, _"What am I going to do with you?"_

* * *

Connor and Garfield are able to get into the Krolotean's ship. They start destroying everything inside.

"Kid, you just may change my mind about monkeys yet."

Garfield, the ape, hoots. Explosions and smoke were seen coming out from the ship. Alanna was still hiding behind the Mech with M'gann in her arms.

"Ba sistris qu, Miss Mar-shawn. Ba lalto onamao ol dol qu wake up!"

M'gann wakes up and gets on her feet.

"Alanna? What happened?"

"I can understand you again. You and Beast Boy were captured, but we rescued you."

Three Kroloteans appear and start screeching trying to grab anyone's attention to get them onto the ship. M'gann levitates the leader towards her. Her eyes glow green while the Krolotean continues to flail about. He stops when he feels M'gann in his mind.

His body stops moving at all. There's no more screeching. M'gann takes the sash away and leaves the Krolotean, now comatose, on the ground. She doesn't even look back at him.

"What just…" Alanna gets cut off when more explosions grab her attention.

The ship starts to rise in the atmosphere. Connor and Garfield quickly leave the ship before it goes into space. It leaves Rann and heads back to Krolotea.

"You okay?" Connor turns asking M'gann.

"Fine. I got this for Beast Boy," she tosses him the sash.

"Souvenir. Sweet."

"Where did that come from?" Connor spots the two Kroloteans dragging their comatose leader away. "M'gann what did you—"

"Never mind that now." "We have to get back to Earth. I know what the Justice League did on Rimbor. I know what happened during their missing 16 hours."

* * *

Miguel and Tulio come back to the Cave with smiles on their faces. Ever since they started dating, neither of them have ever been able to stop smiling since. Miguel started dating his boo last April. Tulio started dating his back in March. They can't stop smiling.

"So, what do you want to do next?" Miguel wonders.

"Maybe we should go ice skating," Tulio suggests.

"Tulio, hermano, we don't know how to ice skate."

"That's the idea idiot."

"Oh, shut up," he pouts a little.

They head to the kitchen when Tulio suddenly stops. Miguel stares at him with confusion. He slowly pulls out his katana and steadies the blade. Tulio spots blood on the counter and floor. The older twin motions Miguel to look too. Miguel does.

They follow the trail. It leads them to the couch where they find someone unexpected. The view is something they never want to see again; Mia in sweatpants and a white shirt laying on the couch. There's dry blood from her lips down to the top of her shirt. Mia wakes up from her nap.

She looks up and smiles at them. "Hola chicos. How was your day?"

"F-Fine. Yours?" Miguel forces the words out.

"Could've been worse."

"How?"

"I could've missed by a few hundred yards."

"What happened?" Tulio's voice filled with concern.

"Nothing too bad. Teleported to the moon, started puking blood, taken to the Medical Bay at the Watchtower then teleported back here just so I can be comfortable. You would've believe how comfy this couch is."

The Twins have a silent conversation between them. Mia gets comfy again as she readies herself for another nap. _"They seem happier somehow. I'm happy."_ Miguel walks to her side and picks her up. Tulio stands by in case she makes a run for it.

"Why are you picking me up?"

"Cause we're taking you home," Tulio answers.

"We don't _need_ to, do we? We can just keep this between us."

"Why are you being so difficult?"

"I'm a Ramires. Difficulty and stubbornness runs through my veins."

"She's got you there."

"Don't encourage her." Tulio sighs in frustration muttering, "Next thing we know, she's going teleport to Mars."

"Actually, that _was_ next on the list but the blood thing happened so it was a no go."

"You're staying in our room then. Afterwards, we're taking you back to Evan."

"Since when did you become the responsible one?"

"Since now," he scowls.

"Yeesh. Take a chill pill," Mia sasses.

Miguel is biting back his laugh. He just walks to his room to save Mia from Tulio. Once inside, Miguel sets her onto a bed and leaves after giving her a kiss to the head. Tulio does the same. They barely walk three feet when Wally and Mal come barely down the hallway.

"Where is she?!" Wally shouts.

"Whoa primo. Breathe and relax before you burst a vein," Miguel says.

"Who? Mia?" Tulio asks.

"Yes!"

"We just placed her in our room. She's resting right now. What's going on?" Tulio questions.

"I'll inform Flash," Mal leaves.

"I'm going to kill her," Wally growls.

"Wally," Miguel grips his shoulders. "Calm down. Mia told us what happened."

"Did she also tell you she nearly died? Mia lost nearly three pints of blood from her stupid stunt." Wally sighs, "I told her I would stop her from doing something so reckless and stupid but I didn't. God, I'm the worst cousin in the world." Wally hides his face with one hand.

"She left out _that_ small detail from our conversation," Tulio frowns.

"Hey, you're not the worst cousin. I'm sure there are some who are _way_ worse than you."

"Gee, I feel a _whole_ lot better," Wally snarks.

"Look, before we even got here, you've been watching her from the get-go and we can't thank you enough. Positive note: she's here, alive, and sleeping. Negative note: Dad will give her an earful and I'm guessing you will too. Now, I vote _not_ to tell Evan the recent event. Mia needs to do it on her own. We got a deal?" Miguel lets go of his shoulders.

"Fine. He doesn't need to know _everything_. You don't think Mal or Uncle Barry will tell him, do you?"

"Nah," they say together.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to head home and finish some work for Photography class."

"Need any help?" Miguel offers.

"I'll call if I do but call me when she wakes up, we're going to have a word about her behavior."

They nod and watch their cousin leave. The two of them head back to their room to relax as well as keeping an eye on their sister. Tulio grabs a book from his bookshelf he has read for the nth time.

Miguel sits at his desk going through photos he's taken on his laptop. The photos are a third of him, his brother and their significant others, a third of everything he feels should be captured in a single moment, and a third of their team members doing everyday activities. His laptop is encrypted, thanks to Tim, and now no one can access it but him.

They stop for a minute to take in the moment. Seeing their sister sleeping peacefully gives them a peace of mind. It could be better if Ana Sophia is with them. Only time will tell if the Ramires siblings will be reunited.

Miguel smiles then goes back to his photos. Tulio puts his book down. He grabs a blank journal and begins to write a story; what kind it is, he doesn't know but he just writes down the thoughts swirling in his mind. His glance between Mia and Tulio.

A smile shows up on his face. _"I guess we're all artists now."_


	5. Alienated

**Disclaimer: I do not own YJ, they belong to DC. I own Mia!**

 _ **Metropolis**_

 _ **January 5, 17:09 EST**_

'So, the Justice League finally provided scanners to every government on Earth to root out those filthy little aliens posing as real human beings. But you have to wonder, how were they able to whip up this deck so fast, or more accurately, how long have they been keeping it from us?' Gordon says on the news.

Jaime and Karen enter Bibbo's Diner. No other customers are inside.

'Oh, sure, they offer it up like a gift from the gods.'

"Sit anywhere, kids," Bibbo offers.

He recognizes them and runs out of the diner through the back entrance. Karen and Jaime suit up during the pursuit. Both are chasing fake Bibbo down an alleyway. They quickly gain on him. Just as he reaches the streets, the real Bibbo appears and punches the fake one.

"There's only one Bibbo, and don't you forget it," he towers over the body.

Karen and Jaime catch up when the robot opens up to reveal the Krolotean in it. The little guy makes a run for it and gets hit by Karen's stingers. He makes it down to the sewer to reach his escape pod. The fire from the boosters shoots up and covers everyone in soot.

"Huh. Boy, that practically singed my eyebrows off," Bibbo says.

"Yeah, practically," James looks at Karen. "Uh, you got a little soot—"

"Blue, scan for it," Karen orders.

"Right, right. Scanning." He scans, "Sorry. Nothing. He's gone. No, it would not have been preferable to vaporize him back at the diner."

Karen and Bibbo stare at him with confusion and worry. They head back to the diner where Bibbo gives them a heap of food as a thank you. The two of them take all of it back to the Cave.

 _ **Mount Justice**_

 _ **January 5, 18:02 EST**_

"Recognized: Blue Beetle, B23; Bumblebee, B18."

They head to the kitchen and place the food onto the kitchen island. The first to show up are Mia and Mal. Mal's on "Mia Sitting" since the brothers had to go out again. Mia's not happy about it.

"You know, you can go. I'm fine Mal."

"Not a chance."

Mia sighs. The scent of Bibbo's brings a smile to her face. Her mouth practically waters by the smell alone.

"Please tell me those are from Bibbo's," she prays.

"Sure is," Karen smiles.

"I love Bibbo's!"

Karen hands Mia one of the burgers and a container of mac and cheese. She digs right in but at a slow pace so it'll stay in her stomach. Mal goes straight for the slab of ribs and digs in too. Pretty much everyone's eating the best food that is Bibbo's.

Jaime remembers Mia's practice. "So how did it go? Did you make it to the moon?" he looks to Mia.

Karen raises an eyebrow at Mia. The accused eats and looks away.

"Girl, did you actually go to the moon? Like teleported there?"

"Maybe…"

"Oh, she did alright," Mal answers.

"Mal!" Mia slaps his arm.

"This girl had us all worried. She makes it to the moon only to vomit blood a few minutes later."

Mia sees Karen's and Jaime's shocked expressions. "It's not as bad as it sounds."

"She lost three pints of blood," Mal frowns at her.

She sheepishly laughs, "Then there's that."

"I'm not going to say anything. This is between you and Evan," Karen states.

"He doesn't even know yet actually."

Karen just shakes her head and goes back to eating.

"How was it?" Jaime asks.

"It was absolutely breathtaking. Next time, I'll use the Bioship and paint on the moon."

With that said, they go back to eating the addictive food of Bibbo's. Soon enough they head back to wherever home is. Mia zetas back to her apartment in Central City. When she arrives at the apartment, Mia crawls into bed with Evan, who's already sleeping from a hard, long day at work. She snuggles next to him and falls into a blissful sleep.

 _ **Taos**_

 _ **January 6, 09:55 MST**_

Mia, Nightwing, Wonder Woman, Captain Atom and Green Lantern John are waiting for Zeta squad to come back from their mission. Mal already informs Nightwing what had happened yesterday and he goes berserk on her. Never in the time she has known him had she witnesses Dick completely blowing a gasket she remained silent while he went off on her. Luckily, she was able to convince him to let her tag along to see them and wanted to be in the loop.

"Sir, we have received a Rannian signal. They are arriving now," a STAR Lab scientist states.

"Recognized: Adam Strange, A11; Miss Martian, B06; Superboy, B05; Beast Boy, B20," the computer announces.

"Nightwing! Blink!" Garfield runs past M'gann and Strange, "Check out my super cool alien souvenir."

"Gar, business first."

"Noted."

"Zeta squad, report," Nightwing states while Mia sends Garfield a soft smile.

"Our mission to neutralize the Krolotean zeta platforms on Rann was a success," M'gann starts.

"I've also brought back specs from Rann to create a zeta shield to prevent anymore aliens from beaming to Earth from off world," Strange shows a simulation.

"How will that effect our own zeta capabilities?" Captain Atom asks.

"And what would happen to me if I teleport off world?" Mia wonders.

Nightwing frowns at her. She ignores it.

"It won't. The shield will activate at an altitude above the Watchtower's orbit. League zeta tubes will still function normally," he looks to Mia. "I don't know how this will affect you. If you do teleport off world, hopefully nothing will happen."

"Key word 'hopefully'," Mia mutters.

"Tell them about Rimbor. Tell them about the 16 hours," Garfield tells M'gann.

This got Wonder Woman's and Green Lantern John's attentions.

"It may be easier to show you," M'gann's eyes glowed green and everyone saw what she saw. "I successfully interrogated a Krolotean general on Rann who had paid off a member of the Rannian Science Command to allow the Kroloteans to land a secret base in the Rannian jungle. Once there, the Kroloteans stole zeta platform technology from Adam Strange's friend Sardath. They landed another ship in New Orleans and used the zeta platforms to beam a few hundred Kroloteans to Earth. They built more platforms, brought in more Kroloteans, and began abducting and replacing humans."

"Perhaps as part of an invasion strategy, though that's still unclear."

"But why Earth?" Captain Atom asks.

"And what does any of this have to do with the missing 16 hours?" Wonder Woman demands.

M'gann's eyes glowed green again. "Well, as you know, five years ago Vandal Savage placed the entire League under his control."

"Hate him," Mia adds.

"Six Leaguers: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern and Hawkwoman went missing for a full 16 hours. It turns out you were teleported to a planet called Rimbor where you spent 16 hours on a rampage, attacking everyone and everything in sight and announcing in several alien languages that you were the Justice League from Earth and that the rest of the galaxy should beware." "That's why the Kroloteans came. The League itself brought Earth to their attention."

"I don't know what to say. I have no memories of this. None."

Captain Atom lays a hand on Wonder Woman's shoulder. "Don't blame yourself. Blame Savage and his Light. But, John, how is it that you haven't heard about this intergalactic incident?"

"No clue. Rimbor's not a planet in my sector, but I'll head to Oa immediately to consult with the Guardians of the Universe and the rest of the Green Lantern Corps. We'll get to the bottom of this Cap, I promise."

"In the meantime, we still have a Krolotean invasion for us to track down on Earth," he turns to M'gann, "You did good work on Rann. Now we need you at the Hall of Justice."

The Leaguers left STAR Labs while the rest stayed behind for a bit.

"Let's see that souvenir you got BB," Mia says.

He hands it to her. Mia takes a good look at it and notices a stain. She looks up to ask what the stain is but she sees a deep frown on Connor's face. Instead, Mia hands it back to Garfield.

"It's cool. What's even cooler is you got to go to an alien planet. I wish I can do that."

Nightwing gently grips Mia's shoulder. "No more teleporting off world. You're grounded since yesterday and you'll stay grounded until I say you're allowed to go back on missions."

Mia narrows her eyes at him. "You're joking."

"Does it look like I am?"

"You seriously can't keep me off missions! I'm fine! So, what if I lost three pints of blood when I teleported to the moon? I'm still here, standing on my two feet."

"As leader that's my final decision," Nightwing walks away.

M'gann and Garfield awkwardly leave after Nightwing. The only ones left are Connor and Mia.

"Why did you go to the moon?"

"Wanted to practicing teleporting off world. Thought it could help with future missions," she pauses, "What's that frown about when I had the sash?"

Connor starts walking. Mia follows.

He softly speaks. "M'gann did it."

"Did what?"

"When she had 'interrogated' that Krolotean general, she left him in a comatose state. It's not the first time she's done it."

"What?" Mia freezes in her spot.

Connor looks back and sees her shocked face. "A lot happened when you left Mia. That's why we're not dating anymore."

"I'm...I'm so sorry Connor. I-I should've stayed with you guys. Maybe if I was there, M'gann wouldn't have—"

"Mia, don't blame yourself for this. For the first time since I've known you, you did something for your well-being and not for the well-being of others. To be honest, if you had stayed, you wouldn't have met Evan or be engaged to him. None of this is your fault Mia. Now stop pouting, we have to get to the Hall of Justice."

Mia kisses his cheek. "Thanks Con."

He grunts in response. The both of them leave STAR Labs and head for the Hall.

 _ **Washington, D.C**_

 _ **January 6, 12:05 EST**_

"And finally, we have the full surviving host bodies used by a race of alien energy beings known as the Appelaxians, who attempted to conquer the Earth. Of course, the attack also brought together Earth's Mightiest Heroes to form the Justice League."

"G. Gordon Godfrey says the League is working with the aliens," a tourist whispers to another.

"Ahem. This way to the viewing gallery."

* * *

Down in the lower levels of the Hall, M'gann, Connor, and Mia walk to the observing room to watch the interrogation. They walk in and Batman's there too.

"You didn't have to come along and neither did you Mia."

"I think I did."

"I'm here for moral support." _"And to see if what Connor said is true."_

"This the Krolotean captured by Lagoon Boy, Robin, Beetle and Blink?" M'gann asks Batman.

"Your uncle has been interrogating him for days, but simply achieving psychic translation has proven difficult. In the meantime, the League and the Team have hunted the Kroloteans that had been masquerading as humans, but all have escaped capture despite the fact that we destroyed their zeta platforms here and on Rann and that they apparently destroyed their own ship."

Mia notices M'gann's eyes and nudges Connor. By the time he looks, the Krolotean is already in a coma. Mia wanted to tell Batman but stayed silent. _"I can't believe she did that. Why M'gann?"_

"After your success on Rann, Captain Atom thought you might be of some assistance."

"The Kroloteans have an emergency rendezvous point and have standing orders in case of discovery to evacuate there."

Mia looks at the Krolotean with sadness. Connor glares at M'gann.

"The base is inside a volcano on Malina Island."

As they're leaving the Hall, Mia pulls M'gann off to the side.

"Is there something you want to tell me Meg?" Mia crosses her arms.

"No."

"That's not what I heard."

"And what have you heard?"

"Something about you leaving a trail of comatose victims."

"Who told you?" M'gann narrows her eyes.

"A friend."

"Well tell this 'friend' of yours to back off and to stay out of my business."

"Well your business is my business so," Mia shrugs, "Not gonna happen."

M'gann leaves without another word. Shortly afterwards Mia feels a sharp pain in her head. She winces. It disappears as quickly as it appears. She pushes it off to the side thinking it's a headache because she hasn't eaten yet.

Deep in her mind, where a black tinted glass was located, a small crack appeared and was slowly growing.

"This is going to be fun."

 _ **Malina Island**_

 _ **January 6, 07:10 HAST**_

A Manta Flyer arrives at the island. It plunges into the ocean to reach the underwater entrance. The ship docks and one could see a giant alien ship inside the volcano. The door opens and henchmen with guns walk out of the ship with the Kroloteans right behind him.

The Kroloteans begin to communicate with one another.

"I see the ship nears completion. And soon we will leave Earth."

* * *

One of the men is still in the ship talking to someone on the screen.

"We have arrived with the final shipment of Kroloteans."

'Congratulations, my son.'

The man takes off his helmet to reveal a familiar face with blond hair. "Thank you, Father. Initiating phase two."

 _ **South Pacific**_

 _ **January 6, 20:32 HAST**_

"Remember, this is primarily a recon mission. We want to discover all we can about the Kroloteans' invasion strategy before we shut them down and deliver them to the Green Lantern Corps," Batman reminds everyone as they approach Malina Island via Bioship.

Mia pops in wearing her suit. Nightwing turns his head and extremely angry to see her in the Bioship.

"I said you're off missions."

"Since when have I ever listened?"

He just sighs and informs La'gaan and Aquaman. "Approaching drop zone Beta."

The two Atlantians dive into the ocean. The Bioship heads further to the island. Underwater, they find the entrance and speak to each other in Atlantian.

"Together, my King?"

"Together, La'gaan."

They open the entrance by force and make it inside.

* * *

Meanwhile, Nightwing approaches the next drop zone.

"Drop zone Gamma."

This time it's Batman. He quickly takes out the henchmen. As they leave the Bioship, Nightwing keeps Mia back for a quick chat.

"Mia—"

"I won't do anything too drastic. I promise."

"I just want you to be able to go back home to Evan that's all."

"And I appreciate it," she chuckles. "If you're so worried about me now, I don't want to see how you'll treat me when I'm pregnant."

With that said, Mia exits the Bioship. Nightwing tries to calm his rapid heartbeat. _"Please tell me she isn't."_

* * *

The construction of the ship is nearly complete. So far none of the Kroloteans have noticed a certain Bat clan infiltrating the location. Some of the Kroloteans begin to talk.

"Earth could have been so profitable…"

"If Earthlings had not discovered us."

"The Earthlings? This is the work of the Competitor"

That word caused some of the Kroloteans to stop working. They mutter to each other until one of the leaders stops it.

"Silence!" He turns to the other leader, "You cannot know the Competitor is on this world."

"Who else hired the Main Man to expose us?! And last night I was attacked by a Competitor Warrior."

This causes a spread of panic through the Kroloteans.

* * *

Back on the sub, the familiar figure calls in for reports. "All sectors report status."

'Sector one secured.'

'Sector two secured.'

There's a pause.

'Sector four secured.'

"Sector three, report status. Sector three, report."

At this point, he leaves the sub and heads into the base.

* * *

Meanwhile, La'gaan and Aquaman stay in the water, waiting for the signal to charge in. Nightwing, Barbara, Tim and Mia appear on a catwalk without any of the henchmen noticing. Tim and Barbara go in opposite directions while Mia stays with Nightwing. Unfortunately, the familiar figure notices our heroes.

"Intruders, upper level. And in the water." He fires his lasers into the water catching La'gaan and Aquaman off guard.

One of the henchmen finds Tim. "There!"

They start shooting at him. Batman arrives to the rescue by knocking them out. More are coming at him but Nightwing, Mia and Barbara take them out with ease. Tim manages taking some down himself. The ones by the water are firing blindly until Aquaman and La'gaan jump out and start attacking.

The Kroloteans back away in fear. "The Meta-Earthlings found us!"

"Use the Mechs! Attack!"

Mia happens to look down and sees the Mechs coming up behind the Atlantians.

"Uh, what are those?"

"Nothing good," Nightwing answers.

As the fighting continues, the Krolotean leaders are trying their best to get their ship up and running. Batman takes out a henchman and jumps over the railing to reach the lower level. Nightwing takes out another henchman out then turns to Barbara.

"Batgirl, Maneuver 7."

He tosses her up to another level where she takes down two more. Time takes out more on his catwalk while Mia knocks some out as well. Aquaman goes after the familiar figure and they fight. The figure manages to hit Aquaman's shoulder with his laser from the helmet.

"Manta to Partner. The base has been infiltrated. Abort operation."

'Partner to Manta. The device is already primed. You have five minutes. Get your men out. The bomb will take care of the rest.'

"Perfect. Manta to all troopers. End game enabled. Strategic retreat to Manta Flyer. You have four minutes."

The troopers soon began to retreat back to the Manta Flyer.

"Nightwing to Delta squad. Enemy is attempting escape. Request backup."

More of the dreaded Mechs appear. A few surround Aquaman but are quickly destroyed by Superman. Delta squad is composed of Superman, Connor, Wonder Woman, and Cassie.

"Nice aim," he tells Superman.

"X-ray vision. I cheat."

"Superman, triple combo over here."

Superman tosses Connor who flies at the Mechs and destroys four Mechs.

"Quadruple. Nice."

Mia witnesses the interaction between the Kryptonians and is happy. _"Well it's about damn time Clark."_ While being distracted, a Mech nearly fires on her when someone pushes her down. Someone else takes care of the Mech. Mia turns to see Miguel in his suit; a full body suit padded with Kevlar, red with blue accents and a dragon mask covering the upper half of his face.

"Thanks, Red Dragon," she smiles.

"Let's kick their butts." Miguel helps her up when Tulio walks over to them to make sure they aren't injured. Mia sees Tulio's suit as well; it's identical to Miguel's except Tulio's colors are blue with red accents.

"You good Blink?" Tulio asks.

"Yes, Blue Dragon, I'm fine."

An explosion catches their attention and they turn to see Connor taking out more of the Krolotean Mechs.

"We can't let them have all the fun, now can we?" Mia smirks.

Her brothers smirk back. Each go their separate ways in order to help end the battle quicker.

"Three minutes to departure."

La'gaan goes to attack the figure when he gets distracted allowing Aquaman to punch the bad guy. The punch causes his helmet to come off and show his face.

"I had not believed Nightwing until this moment," Aquaman states.

"You did not want to believe."

Mia freezes when she hears the familiar voice. _"Kaldur?"_ She turns to find Kaldur in a Manta suit and her eyes widen.

"None of us wanted to believe this. How could you betray us?" Connor demands.

Right after he asks the question, Mia appears next to him. Kaldur's shocked to see her but it doesn't show on his face.

"K-Kaldur? What's going on here?"

"It seems you have missed a lot these past two years Blink. You should not be here." Kaldur turns his attention back to Connor and becomes enraged, "You dare question me after all of you let Tula die." He takes out his water bearers forming two swords.

Nightwing appear.s "Kaldur, that was a mission. Aquagirl knew the risks. No one wanted her to—"

"Neptune's beard. Don't coddle this traitor. He has joined forces with our King's greatest enemy," La'gaan states.

"Do you mean the King who hid from me the true identity of my father?"

" _Oh Kaldur."_ Mia looks at him with sadness in her eyes.

"That was my error in judgement, Kaldur'ahm. No one else needs suffer for it."

"All will suffer if Black Manta demands it."

Mia quickly stansd between Kaldur and the others. The latter, especially Nightwing, don't want her in the line of fire.

"Kaldur, there's no need for violence. I know Tula's death still stings you because it still stings me. Even though it's no one's fault, I feel like it's mine because I wasn't there to help. When I got the call from Nightwing, my world crashed. I lost my best friend and no one can ever replace her. Please Kaldur, let's talk this out, I beg of you," she takes off her cowl so he could see how sincere and serious she is. "Please."

"I'm sorry Blink but that will never happen. Blood is thicker than seawater."

He aims a small rocket at her and fires. Before she getting hit, Superman stops it. When the smoke clears, Kaldur, Nightwing, Connor and Mia are gone. Kaldur escapes down a hole leading to the lower level of the base and meets Nightwing down there.

"Kaldur."

"Just you and me, old friend."

"No!" Connor appears, "It's a regular reunion special."

"I won't let you guys fight. This is ridiculous!" Mia appears between them again.

"Mia get out of the way," Nightwing warns.

"No! This has gone long enough," she looks to Kaldur. "Please stop this nonsense. Whatever happened to the gentle and wise Kaldur I once knew?"

"He's gone."

"I don't believe it and I never will."

"Fine, you can take me down or you can save everyone from this bomb."

"What?" she whispers.

"I am told the yield is quite impressive."

Connor goes to attack Kaldur. However, Kaldur gets the best of him and pins him to the ground. He starts electrocuting him.

"Superboy!" Mia runs to save him but Nightwing holds her back.

"You have two minutes," Kaldur warns.

He escapes into the water. Nightwing goes to the bomb. Mia helps Connor back onto his feet.

'They're getting away,' Cassie states.

'We'll stop them,' La'gaan adds.

"Negative. We have a bomb down here. Alien tech. I cannot disarm it."

"I'll get it out," Connor offers.

"No. It might have pressure or motion sensors."

"What if I teleport it out of here and into space?" Mia asks.

"That could cause the bomb to explode by the slightest movement. All squads evacuate to the Bioship now."

As everyone leaves the volcano, Mia stops when she feels something in the pit of her stomach. She runs back in ignoring Nightwing and Connor's pleas. Mia's back in the room where she sees Superman trying to get the Kroloteans to listen to him.

"Listen. Listen to me," Superman pleas.

"The Metas flee! Victory is at hand!"

"Please you have to listen! You need to get out of here, there's a bomb and it's going to kill all of you unless you escape. Get out while there's still time!" Mia shouts as tears build up in her eyes.

Superman turns his head spotting Mia. He shouts. "Blink get out of here now!"

"No! Not until every one of these Kroloteans are safe from harm!"

* * *

The Bioship appears. Everyone manages to get on board except Mia. La'gaan goes to the bridge and is shocked to see two Kroloteans.

"Neptune's beard."

"Hello, Megan. Knew we forgot something."

They shift back into their original form.

"Well done, Alpha squad," Batman says.

"Find a seat. It's time to go," M'gann states.

"Wait, where's Superman? And Mia's not back yet!" Connor yells.

* * *

"Listen! We're not trying to hurt you. A bomb is set to explode beneath this base. There are too many of you to carry individually, but if you board your ship, I will fly you all to safety."

They begin firing at him. "Do not trust the Earthling!"

"Please you have to believe him! We don't want you to die."

Tears finally roll down her cheeks. Some Kroloteans almost fire at her but they see her crying and hesitate.

"Why is the female Earthling crying?"

"Is she telling the truth?"

"Please!" Superman and Mia beg.

Before they could do anything, the bomb explodes and Malina Island is no more. The Bioship gets caught in the shockwave. Everyone inside is tossed back and forth in their seats.

"Come on, old girl," M'gann tells the Bioship.

They finally escape and circle back to get Superman and hopefully Mia.

Superman falls into the ocean. Aquaman saves him. The Bioship's docking bay is open with Connor and the Twins at the entrance waiting to help. Aquaman hauls Superman into the Bioship with Connor's help. Miguel and Tulio look out at the ocean hoping to see Mia but they don't.

Tulio hangs his head at the mere thought she died in the explosion. Angry tears flowing down Miguel's cheeks. Feeling desperate, he nearly jumps into the ocean to find her but Tulio holds him back. He struggles in his brother's grip.

His resistance slows to a stop as he finally accepts the truth; Mia is dead. Just as they're about to tell M'gann to close the door, something breaks the water's surface grabbing their attention. They turn to see a massive sea turtle swimming towards them.

Upon closer inspection, the top of the turtle's shell has an irregular shape to it. As it gets closer to the Bioship, the irregular shaped shell is in fact a person hanging on to it. Tears of happiness are spilled as the brothers see the person on the sea turtle's back is Mia. She seems fine with a few cuts, bruises, and semi-conscious.

When the turtle reaches the Bioship, the brothers grab each of her arms and hauls her in. They hug her tightly afraid they'll lose her again. Mia reassures them with soft words and kisses. She looks back at the massive sea turtle with slight confusion.

"Manny?"

Aquaman walks over and communicates with the turtle. He turns back to Mia with a smile. "He's happy to see you are alive and well. Years ago, he got worried when you didn't show up for your afternoon swim."

"Manny, you...you actually waited for me? H-How did you even find me?"

"There will be time for questions later but now we must go."

"Aquaman, can you tell him to meet us back at the Cave when he can? Please, Manny's my childhood friend."

"Of course. I would be happy to translate for you if that is what you wish."

"I'd love that. Thanks," she smiles brightly at him.

After Aquaman tells Manny the sea turtle where to meet them, Mia waves at him in a 'see you later' sense. The door closes and the Bioship heads back to the Cave. Miguel and Tulio sits with Mia on the ground next to Superman. Wonder Woman make sure he's alive.

"He's breathing. Pulse is strong. He'll be alright."

"Thank god," Mia mutters.

"He didn't save the Kroloteans. He won't be alright with that," Connor says.

At that point Mia was silent and silently cries for the loss of the Kroloteans.

"I don't think Mia will be either," Tulio adds.

He watches his older sister cry in his brother's arms being completely worried about her. _"Those were someone's friend, brother, father, etc. Why would Kaldur do that?"_ Mia thought as more tears seem to continue with no stop.

* * *

Back on the bridge, the others are chatting.

"What just happened?" Cassie asks.

"The Kroloteans were clearly trying to build a new ship," M'gann answers.

"They had to, Angelfish. It was their only way to leave Earth without their zeta platforms or their original ship."

"But was Aqualad helping them escape, or luring them into a trap?" Cassie wonders.

"The bomb was of alien origin. Yet the Kroloteans clearly knew nothing about it. So where did it come from?" Nightwing asks.

"I have a feeling it may be up to you and your team to find out," Batman answers.

 _ **North Pacific**_

 _ **January 7, 07:07 HAST**_

The Manta Flyer reaches a larger underwater ship and docks. After walking for a bit, Kaldur opens a door to find his father eating in his office.

"Father."

"Congratulations, son. You did well. I don't suppose Aquaman died in the explosion?"

"Unlikely."

His father sighs. "Pity," Black Manta receives an incoming transmission, "If you'll excuse me."

He walks into a type of conference room and was having a meeting with the Light.

'Good morning, Black Manta. The Kroloteans' competitor, our new partner, is quite pleased with your efforts, and so is the Light. All agree we made the right choice asking you to replace poor, disgraced Ocean Master. You are officially one with the Light,' Vandal states.

 _ **Central City**_

 _ **January 7, 09:54 CST**_

Mia is the last to arrive and exits the zeta tube. She looks at her brothers with dull eyes and a permanent frown has set on her face. No one says a word as they head to Mia's apartment. Once they reach the door, Tulio opens it with his spare key. They walk in. Hearing the door close, Lola comes bounding in excited to see them. Miguel and Tulio pet her while Mia squats down and hugs her.

Lola purrs softly. She places a paw on Mia's back as if telling her 'it's alright, I'm here.' Mia gets up then heads to her room where she changes into comfy clothes. This consists of pajama shorts, baggy shirt and Evan's CCPD hoodie.

"Do you want us to stay?" Miguel asks.

"I'm fine."

"You're not. We'll stay with you until Evan gets back," Tulio states.

"You guys should head out, I'll be fine." Mia sits on the couch. Lola hops onto her lap, "Lola knows what to do if something happens. Plus, she's a leopard."

The boys look to each other with uncertainty. They glance back at her with worry in their eyes.

"If you say so…"

"Just give us a call if you need anything."

When the door closes, there's a few minutes of utter silence. After ten minutes pass, Mia glances over at the kitchen entrance and narrows her eyes.

"Get out here you dick."

Nightwing walks in with a sly smile. "Great play on words there."

"What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to check on you," he glances down.

A moment of silence falls between them. The air is thick with tension, it could easily be cut with a butter knife.

Mia turns her gaze away. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to worry you."

"Bullshit," she looks back at him with her glare, deadlier than Batman's. "What's the real reason?"

He sighs. "If I told you what happened with Kaldur while you were on vacation with Evan, you would've ended it early and come straight back to the Team. Knowing you, you would scour the planet on your own trying to find him and bring him back. I couldn't do that to you Mia, not after everything you've been through. You needed…no, you deserved to get away from the superheroing and find your place in the world and that place is right next to Evan."

Mia gets up from the couch and walks over to him. She punches his arm stating, "Don't _ever_ keep secrets from me. Am I understood Richard?"

Nightwing slightly winces at the tone of voice Mia uses on his name. He nods.

Mia just sighs. "Pancakes?"

"Sure."

They head into the kitchen to have some breakfast before Nightwing leaves. When he does, Mia has an odd sensation Nightwing isn't being truthful to her. _"Why do I feel like you're keeping another secret from me Richard?"_

 _ **Mount Justice**_

 _ **January 26, 00:10 EST**_

Members of the Team whose mentors are going to Rimbor arrive to see them off. Mia tags along to wish them luck and hope they come back quickly.

"I wish I could go with," Cassie says looking down.

"I doubt your mother would approve. And only the six of us who stand accused need to take this odyssey. Though Hawkman insists on accompanying his spouse and Icon will act as our advocate for it seems he is familiar with intergalactic trial law," Wonder Woman notices Mia off to the side, "Blink."

Mia looks over at them and walks over. "Yes?"

She smiles. "Please watch over Cassandra for me."

Mia smiles back, "Of course. Cassie and I need to have a get together anyway."

"I understand you are a prodigy artist."

"Well I wouldn't call myself a prodigy but I like to think I'm good."

" _She is modest."_ "Perhaps one day you would come to Themyscira and do a portrait of my mother, Queen Hippolyta."

Mia's speechless by Wonder Woman's offer.

"I-I would love to. Thank you so much."

"Do you have pen and paper? I'll give you the coordinates. You must never tell anyone where it is located."

"The only way anyone will ever know is over my dead body."

" _I can see why Bruce and Clark are so shocked by her. She has the heart of an Amazon but gentle as a newborn."_ Wonder Woman writes down the coordinates and hands it to Mia.

* * *

"You sure this is necessary?" Captain Atom asks John.

"The Guardians of the Universe seem to think so. They've sent Hal and Guy ahead to make sure the so-called High Court of Rimbor will know we come in peace and know we expect a fair trial."

* * *

"How long will you be long?" Connor asks.

"However long it takes to clear our names, Kon-El. But we will be back, little brother. Besides, you have your 'big sister' to keep you company," Superman nods towards Mia's direction.

Connor smiles.

* * *

"I'll miss you."

"And I you, M'gann. Oh, perhaps you could water the plants in my apartment while I'm gone."

* * *

"Be careful, alright?" Nightwing says to Batman.

"I was about to say the same to you three. I fear we leave the more dangerous task here on Earth."

Nightwing, Tim and Barbara look to each other.

Nightwing reponds, "We'll manage."

"Tell Amelia I have something for her."

"Time to go."

" _I wonder what Bruce wants to give Mia."_ Nightwing remains silent. They walked over to Green Lantern John. He uses his power ring to put them in a bubble.

"May the gods be with you all," Wonder Woman says.

The power ring transforms the bubble into a spaceship. It rises into the air and flies to Rimbor. Captain Atom leaves and the everyone else follows him. Mia brings Connor with her to the kitchen where they have some hot chocolate. Neither say a word but appreciate the comfortable silence between them. Just knowing the other is next to them brings a sense of peace and calmness.

"How about you sleep in my place tonight? Wolf can come, there's plenty of room."

"Thanks."

They plus Wolf head for Mia's place and enjoy each other's company.


	6. Salvage

**Disclaimer: I do not own YJ, they belong to DC. I own Mia and co!**

 _ **Central City**_

 _ **February 13, 20:05 CST**_

Evan and Mia are cooking dinner when the phone rings.

"Lola, can you bring the phone?" Mia asks.

Lola carefully grabs the phone with her mouth and places it on the counter. She uses a claw to answer it as well as putting it on speaker phone.

"O'Brian residence," Mia answers.

Evan kisses her cheek. _"God, I love this woman."_

'Hey cuz.'

"Wally, I swear if you're crashing our dinner, I'm sending you into the Earth's core."

'No, no. I'm not crashing dinner.'

"So, what's up?"

'It's Roy.'

She stops making dinner. "What happened?"

'Nothing bad. We're just worried about him. Think you can tag along and help?'

She sighs then looks to Evan for help. He gives her an encouraging smile and mouths "Go help." Mia kisses his lips.

'Mi?'

"Yeah I'm coming. Where's the idiot?"

 _ **Washington D.C.**_

 _ **February 13, 21:06 EST**_

A store's currently being robbed. The robber flees and before he makes it any further, he trips over an arrow and falls. His gun out of his reach and the stolen money too. Knockout gas is released from the arrow making the robber unconscious.

The store owner arrives. "I was watching through the window. That was amazing!"

A scruffy looking Red Arrow turns around to pick up the stolen money.

"Can I offer you a reward? I mean, anything I've got in the store is yours, dude. Anything."

Red Arrow takes one of the stacks of money and hides it from the owner. He stands up giving the sack of money back.

"Not necessary. Your thanks are all the reward I need."

Up on a rooftop, Green Arrow was watching the whole thing. He calls in for backup, "I found him. And it's worse than we thought."

 _ **Taos**_

 _ **February 13, 19:49 MST**_

At STAR Labs, Strange and his fellow scientist are getting ready to launch the zeta shield. The scientist nods.

"We're ready. Zeta shield relay satellites are all in place," Strange informs Captain Atom.

 _ **Watchtower**_

 _ **February 13, 21:50 EST**_

Captain Atom nods. The program launches.

'Activating satellites.'

The satellites were activated. A thin veil spreads over the planet and just above the Watchtower. This shield will now protect them from unwanted visitors via zeta beam.

 _ **Mount Justice**_

 _ **February 13, 21:51 EST**_

Some members of the Team are watching the shield go up.

'Congratulations. The zeta shield is now operational,' Strange states.

"Absolutely historic." La'gaan turns to Mr. Carr, "Professor Carr! You should have your Cave school pupil write a term paper about this." Garfield motions for La'gaan to shut up. "With the zeta shield in place, no alien can teleport to our planet from off world. Even your Strange friend won't be able to travel to and from Rann without prior approval."

"Shield's great, but it won't stop a spaceship or a boom tube," Connor states.

"What's a boom tube?" Jaime asks.

'Boom tube—an alternate means of instant transport between distant locations. Not compatible.'

"Not compatible with what? I swear, I don't understand half the things you say."

"The feeling's mutual," Mal adds.

"Where's Nightwing?" Connor asks.

"Taking the night off. Personal business."

"And Mia?"

"Dinner with Evan."

Connor sighs, "Perfect."

Connor glances at Garfield and sees he's studying.

"So, back to movie night, Angel Fish?"

The couple nuzzle their noses.

"Tag. You're it," Connor takes Jaime with him.

"Hey!" Jaime complains.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Con, you—" Mal starts.

"Taking the night off. Personal business."

" _I better call Mia,"_ Mal thought as he watches Connor walks away with Jaime.

* * *

Back in D.C., Red Arrow fires an arrow and zip lines to another rooftop. He screws up the landing and rolls until he stops in front of Green Arrow. He looks up to see his old mentor and friend.

"Hey, Roy. Need a hand?" Oliver holds out a hand.

Roy slaps it away. "No," he gets up on his own.

"We think you do."

Nightwing, Wally and Mia show up also Black Canary and Jim Harper. Roy's surprised to see Mia. He notices the engagement ring on her hand and frowns.

"I have nothing to say to any of you. Nothing to explain, nothing to justify," Roy turns to leave.

Oliver grabs the hidden money from Roy's belt. Mia spots the money and becomes pissed. She lets out a low growl. Wally and Nightwing cautiously glance at her.

"Nothing?" Oliver holds up the money with a raised brow.

"It's not what it looks like. I mean, that store owner won't miss it. He offered me a reward, anyway." Roy turns to face Oliver. "Besides, I deserve it. Guy wouldn't have any of his money back if I hadn't stepped in."

"Excuse me? "You deserve it"? The only thing you deserve is a good ass whooping and some sense knocked into you!" Mia shouts.

"Dude, are you even listening to yourself?" Wally asks.

Roy snatches the money back. "Look, I need it. I need it to find Speedy, the real Roy Harper."

"Still playing that same old tune. This is why it didn't work out between us. Your obsession is destroying you and your relationships with everyone you know," Mia glares.

He ignores her. "A search like that is expensive, especially when the rest of you have all given up."

"Can I kick his ass now?" Mia asks.

Her phone vibrates so she goes off to the side and answers.

"Yeah?"

'It's Mal.'

"Who's doing something stupid?"

'Connor. He took Jaime along with him.'

She pinches the bridge of her nose. "Do you know where they went?"

'I tracked their coms. They're in D.C. via super cycle.'

"I'll deal with them after I deal with an idiot."

'Should I come to Evan's rescue?'

"It's not Evan."

'Got it. Night Mia.'

"Night Mal."

She walks back to the group and continues to glare at Roy.

* * *

Connor and Jaime along with Wolf arrive in D.C. on Sphere in super cycle mode.

'Ask.'

"Shh!"

'Ask!'

"All right, already. I'll ask."

"Ask what?"

"Oh, any piece of this mission you feel like letting me in on? Look, I know you only picked me because Gar was studying and La'gaan and M'gann were…whatevering, but I'm here, ese, and I want to help."

Connor glances back. "Yeah. Okay," he sighs as he brings up an image of Malina Island, "The bomb Aqualad used last month to destroy Malina Island was clearly of alien origin. Obviously, the Kroloteans that perished there didn't know anything about it, so we need to figure out where it came from. The criminal organization Intergang has a history of trafficking in alien tech smuggled to Earth through boom tubes. So, I've been keeping tabs on Whisper A'Daire, one of Intergang's top lieutenants. Tonight, her boss Bruno "Ugly" Mannheim crawled out of hiding to meet up with her. And they're both in that truck and it looks like they're headed for…the Hall of Justice."

* * *

Black Canary walks towards Roy. "Roy, I know you feel lost, but that doesn't mean you're alone."

"I'm not the one that's lost," he walks away.

"When was the last time you trained? The last time you slept?"

"Don't even start. I'm in the best shape of my life."

"Ha! That's a load of crap," Mia states.

"Oh, really," Canary starts sparring with Roy.

As they reach the edge, Roy nearly falls over but she catches him by grabbing his shirt and pulls him back over.

"Best shape of your life. That was me holding back. Way back," she narrows her eyes. "Roy, you used to treat your body as a temple. But now…"

He falls onto his hands and knees. "My body's no temple. It's a cheap knock-off. A clone."

" _Can he be any more dramatic?"_ Mia thought while watching him with disappointment.

* * *

The truck stops and Ugly climbs out with a briefcase in hand. Both he and Whisper walk towards the Hall. Connor and Jaime watch them from above. He tries to use his infrared vision but can't see into the case.

"Can you scan that case?"

"Yeah, sure," Jaime scans it.

'Cannot scan contents. Not compatible.'

"Not compatible again? What does that even mean?"

"Blue, what do you mean? Who are you talking to?"

Jaime sighs. "It's the scarab. The thing stuck to my spine that gives me the armor, the powers. It's an artificial intelligence created by Ted Kord. You know, the previous Blue Beetle."

"Yeah. I know. Good man."

"So, I hear. Guess he was a super genius or something. Captain Atom figures the scarab was Kord's ultimate invention but the Light killed him before he had a chance to use it. The scarab advises me. Think Jiminy Cricket with a really bad attitude. But he can't scan the briefcase for some reason."

"Can it scan the Hall? Ugly may be about to launch an attack against whoever's inside, and it's shielded from my infrared vision—"

"Scan complete. Hall's deserted."

Ugly and Whisper stop outside the Hall by a wall. He opens the case to reveal an alien tech. Connor narrows his eyes as he tries to recognize the tech.

"What is that thing?" Jaime asks.

Sphere grumbles.

"Don't know but the way Sphere's reacting, I bet it's Apcoalyptan."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning bad news. Let's go."

Whisper hears the engine rev and spots them. "Company, boss."

"Too little, too late."

The machine turns on and sends out a sonic signal. The signal starts to mess with the scarab which hurts Jaime.

'Not compatible! Not compatible!'

"Blue!"

As the signal continues, it reactivates the four husks of the Apolaxians. The husks form together creating a large creature.

"Game's over, Ugly," Connor and Wolf jump down from Sphere, "Time to hand over the device."

"You're half right. Game is over."

The wall begins to crack causing Wolf to growl. Soon the wall breaks and the Apolaxian gain husk bursts out. It roars as if it was in pain.

"Attack."

The husk begins attacking Connor and Wolf. Connor jumps out of the way and grabs onto its arm. He makes a dent in one of the crystals on its head. Wolf manages to bite off some of the wood. Sphere sends a sonic signal to disrupt the frequency of the Apocalyptan machine.

This helps Jaime as he starts feeling better. All the damages the creature sustains are quickly healed.

"What is that thing?"

'Apolaxian golem.'

"You know, I'm bilingual, and I still have no idea what you just said."

'Irrelevant. Attack.'

"Okay. That I get."

Jaime flies into the air and was going to use his sonic weapon on the golem.

"Blue, no!"

Jaime fires. The golem absorbs the attack. It sends it back tenfold knocking down Connor, Wolf and Sphere.

"Aw, man. Aah!" he gets hit with it and falls to the ground too.

The golem steps on him before he gets the chance to flee.

"They're down. Can we kill them?"

"Nah. Trying to kill a Kryptonian would be time consuming. The League will be here any second. Let's just get gone."

Ugly uses the machine which controls the golem. It forms wings and lowers its hand for Ugly and Whisper. They hop on then the golem flies into the air to whatever destination Ugly has planned for.

* * *

This time it was Oliver's turn.

"Roy, come back to Star City. It will be like old times—you and me training, fighting crime, just hanging out, shooting the—"

Roy stands up. "You're confused. Probably thinking of the other guy—the original, the one you stopped looking for. Me, I'm just—"

"We get it. You're a clone." He looks to Jim. "But you're not the only clone on this rooftop."

"Wow. Didn't know that," Mia whispers.

"Really? We did," Wally points to himself and Nightwing.

"Shut up Wally," she pouts a little.

"And I know from personal experience how tough it was to come to grips with being a copy of someone else. That's why I gave up my identity as Guardian so that I could figure out exactly who Jim Harper is supposed to be."

"You tell him Jim," Mia softly speaks.

"That's not the only thing you gave up."

"Roy, you know we both spent years looking for the original Speedy, and everyone else here did the same. We never found him because the Light didn't keep him alive. It was Cadmus policy to delete the source material. He's dead, brother, which is all the more reason you have to live, to honor the Roy that was."

Soon Mia starts fidgeting when she gets the same feeling in her stomach again. The one where something bad is going to happen. _"Connor, you better not be doing anything stupid and reckless."_

* * *

"How are the ears?"

"Fine!" he shouts. "Oh. Ugh. Fine. But what were you thinking using sonics against an Apolaxian?"

"Dude, never even heard of an apple-laxative before tonight!"

Connor sighs in frustration. "You Freshmen never do the homework. Haven't you read the case file on the League's first mission? Haven't you taken the guided tour of the Hall?"

"Those are rhetorical questions, right?"

Connor rolls his eyes. "The Apolaxians were an alien race of energy beings that attacked Earth 12 years ago. They inhabited elemental host bodies, including one made of crystal that could absorb and redirect a sonic attack."

"Ohh. So…what were they doing inside the Hall?"

"The original 7 members of the League drove the energy beings off world. The empty husks the aliens left behind became the League's first trophies. Ugly's device must have reactivated the husks, combined them somehow into a creature he could control. Sphere is tracking the device's Apocalyptan energy readings. We're closing in."

 _ **Arlington**_

 _ **February 13, 22:45 EST**_

The golem arrives and gently places Ugly and Whisper down. Ugly continues to press buttons while the golem just stands there, waiting.

"It sounds…sad."

"Don't go all sentimental on me A'Daire. It's a contruct of wood, stone, et cetera. This gizmo put together the residual psychic energy of its former alien hosts, but that monster doesn't feel anything. And with this thing as my enforcer, I can expand Intergang's reach exponentially."

"Wow. Five syllables," Connor appears on Sphere. "I didn't think you knew any words with more than two."

"Hilarious. But we'll see who's laughing when I—"

"New Genesphere, jam all Apocalyptan signals in the area."

Right as Sphere did, the machine short circuits and stops working. The golem's free and stomps on the machine to destroy it.

"Uh-oh," Ugly says.

The golem knocks them away and flies into the air knocking Sphere down as well. It stomps onto the ground creating a 'snow storm' from all the snow that's on the ground. Wolf starts attacking it causing the creature pain. It takes down Wolf and Connor then proceeds to walking away. Jaime comes at it with his battering ram but it didn't work.

'I told you that tactic would be ineffective.'

"Por favor, I'm trying to—" the golem stomps on Jaime again.

It looks over to see a nuclear plant and heads for it. While the golem was getting closer to the plant, Mia shows up in the clearing. She looks around and spots the boys unconscious.

Walking over to Connor first, Mia gently taps his cheek whispering. "Come on Connor. Wake up already Stupid 3."

A soft groan escapes his lips, "Mia?"

"Hey bud," she smiles.

Connor gets up with Mia's help. "What are you doing here?"

"Got a call that someone here might be doing something stupid," Mia raises a brow, "Are you?"

"Yes."

She sighs. "I don't even want to know. Now, I'll help Beetle and Wolf up then I'm gone. If anything bad is about to go down, call me and I'll be here in a blink of an eye."

"Alright."

Mia quickly helps Wolf. She heads over to Jaime last.

She whispers. "Jaime, hermano. Stupid 6 wake up."

Jaime slowly wakes up. "Mia?"

"The one and only."

She helps him up then smacks his head.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"For being stupid. Hence the name Stupid 6."

"Where's the golem?" he looks around.

"What golem?"

"The apple-laxative."

"You mean Apolaxian?"

"Yes! Have you seen it?"

"No but it looks like there's more to the story," Mia frowns and crosses her arms. "Spill."

'I highly advise against that Jaime Reyes.'

"Will you shut up?"

"Excuse me?" Mia raises a brow.

Jaime starts to panic. "No, no, no. Not you, the scarab."

"Oh, well then," she walks behind Jaime and talks to the scarab herself. "You better listen bug, if you sass me with that mouth of yours one more time, I will teleport you to the edge of the universe. Do I make myself clear?"

'Perhaps it is wise not to anger her.'

"He says okay."

"Great! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to deal with an idiot," Mia teleports back to D.C. while they deal with the golem.

Connor pins Ugly and Whisper against two trees.

"You freed the beast, Super-brat. Now no one's controlling the monster," Ugly states.

"Blue, lock them down."

Right as Jaime does, the scarab starts talking.

'That tactic would be more effective if you fired through bone.'

Jaime groans. "No!"

"Blue! Let's go! Fight your inner demons later."

"Demon, singular. One's enough. Believe me."

The golem continues to wreak havoc on the nuclear plant. It passes the concrete wall and walks towards the reactor. Sphere comes in shooting at it.

"Deploy! We can't let it breach the reactor!" Connor orders.

Soon the four of them go into action. After a few minutes, they knock the golem down and keep it pinned until Jaime 'staples' it to the ground.

"Hold it down!" Connor struggles a little with the arm "Lock it down!"

"Working on it!" Jaime was able to do it.

"Sphere! Pillbug mode! See if you can take control of it!"

Right as Sphere goes into pillbug mode, the golem manages to escape and takes down our heroes…again.

"I don't suppose we could just ask it to play nice."

'Such a tactic would portray weakness.'

"Wait. You mean it's possible?"

* * *

Roy takes a seat on an AC unit.

"I'm whelmed by all this attention." He looks up again past Jim to see Wally and Mia, "What are you even doing here, West and Ramires? I thought you both ditched the hero game."

"Ditching the game doesn't mean ditching my friends. And before you round back to the original Roy again, let's face the facts. He was never our friend," Wally states.

"We've all done the math. Speedy was abducted before any of us met," Nightwing adds.

"You're the guy we trained beside, fought beside. You're the only you we know."

"You're our friend. Just 'cause you're a clone with anger management issues doesn't change that."

"Seriously. Have you met Superboy?"

Mia slaps Wally's arm.

Roy looks at Mia. "Nothing to say?"

"Oh, I've got plenty but first things first."

She walks up to him and slaps him across the face. The Latina grabs the scruff of his uniform making him stare right at her.

"You moron. How could you let yourself become this hollowed husk?! This is not the man I fell in love with all those years ago. I don't even know who you are anymore. I can't believe you're still obsessed over finding the real Roy! So, who gives a shit that you're a clone? That shouldn't matter because you're the one we got to know, not the other Roy. Hell, I didn't know about your situation until Wally called me. I swear to every deity in the cosmos that if you don't clean up your act, I will personally drop you in the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Am I understood?"

Roy looks down. "All done?"

Mia winds up ready to punch him when Wally pulls her away. Her grip on his uniform is gone.

He stands up. "You want to salvage someone's soul? Go get Kaldur to see the light. From what I hear, he needs course correcting. But leave me out," Roy walks away from the group, "Write me off. Or don't. Either way, blow."

He leaves them on the rooftop.

"That smug asshole. Give me a few minutes with him and I'll get him straighten up. Wally, let me go!" Mia struggles in his grip.

"Chill Mia. You know how he gets. Just let him do his own thing."

"That's exactly what we did and look what happened! He needs to get it through that thick skull of his that it's okay to stop the obsession of finding Speedy."

"I know," Wally lets go of her.

She just sighs. "I need a drink," she mutters.

"I could use one too," Wally adds.

Before they leave, Mia gets the same feeling in her stomach again.

"Rain check on the drink Wally. I've got something else to deal with," she teleports back to Arlington.

* * *

The golem continues to wreak havoc on the nuclear plant but it seems that it's looking for something. Jaime aims his sonic weapon at it. Connor comes running at him.

"Stop, Blue! Sonics don't work!"

"Not as an attack but maybe—"

'Frequency adjusted. Proceed.'

As Jaime fires the sonic wave at the golem, Mia appears next to Connor with her eyes wide.

" _Oh, my damn."_ "I leave you guys alone for five minutes and this happens," she gestures to the golem.

"Sorry."

"No, you're not."

Their attention goes back to Jaime who yells out in pain.

"Blue!" Mia looks to Connor, "Didn't you tell him that sonics against a creature with crystal in it is a bad idea?!"

"Blue, break off! Whatever you're doing, break off before it kills you!"

They run to his aide. Connor tries to lower the sonic weapon while Mia holds onto Jaime's shoulders.

"No, it's not attacking! It's communicating—communicating its pain! Listen!"

Both Connor and Mia listen. The golem screams in agony.

"My god," she mutters.

She can practically feel the pain and agony the golem's currently feeling.

The golem starts speaking through Jaime. "Where is the stillness of wood, of stone, of crystal, of metal? All this noise, all this life, is pain. We sense the power in this place—power enough to destroy us, to end the pain, to be still again."

"I can relate," Connor says.

Mia looks over at him with shock whispering. "Superboy."

"I mean—we can help you. We will help you."

"You have our word."

Mia walks towards the golem with her hand stretched out. A mysterious figure stays in the shadows of the forest behind them, watching everything.

"Sorry, meat, but we can't have that."

He lifts his own sonic weapon which seems similar to Jaime's and fires. Before Mia and the golem touch hands, the sonic wave from the figure reaches them. Connor and Wolf writh in pain by the high frequency. The wave hits the golem using it to send the attack back. Mia falls to one knee but tries getting back up to help the golem. Jaime cries out the pain the golem's feeling.

Soon enough, Mia's able to get up and walk towards the golem but she's too late. Cracks start to appear on the golem's body. Parts of it start breaking off from the high frequency sonic attack. Mia looks up at the creature with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"D-Don't worry," she tries to smile, "Everything's going to be—"

The golem explodes before she can finish. The shock wave sends her back a few feet. She hits her head on the ground by Connor. Connor catches Jaime. He looks back to where the golem once was. Mia slowly sits up to see the golem is gone.

All that's left of it are pieces of crystal, wood, stone and metal. She picks up each piece in her hand and holds them against her chest. _"You won't be forgotten."_ Connor looks around and stares at the forest behind him but the figure's long gone. The two security guards of the plant come out from hiding.

"Don't know who you guys are, but you took that thing down! Probably save the whole East Coast."

"No. We didn't," Mia mutters as he walks over to the boys.

Jaime finally wakes up. "It was alive," he stretches his hand out to grab the small ball of light. "And now, it's gone. Who attacked? Who killed it?"

"Someone Ugly," Connor states.

"He's dead," Mia exclaims.

They all head back to the clearing where Mia first found them. On the way there, the crack in Mia's subconscious reaches the top. A single piece of glass breaks off leaving a tiny open hole. A thin trail of black smoke begins leaking out like a sink with a leak. "Time to make my comeback." They finally reach the clearing.

"I'm telling you, they're long—" Connor's voice trails off.

The trio notice Whisper and Ugly are right where they left them but something's off.

"Gone," he finishes.

Connor and Mia go to check while Jaime scans them.

"They're alive. Breathing. Steady heartbeats. But non-responsive."

Connor snaps his fingers in front of Ugly's face; he doesn't respond. He has a knowing look as does Mia when Jaime said "Non-responsive."

" _Oh, this is bad,"_ she thought.

"You have no idea," the voice in her head softly whispers.

She doesn't notice.

* * *

"As requested, Ugly and Whisper are now a living warning to anyone else straying from the path of the Light. But why blow up gruesome? Seems like a wasted resource," Sportsmaster says.

"A resource falling into enemy hands is a resource best disposed of."

"Partner, I like the way you think."

 _ **Palo Alto**_

 _ **February 14, 00:03 PST**_

Wally walks up the stairs to reach his place. He walks in then takes a seat in the kitchen.

"How'd it go?"

"Eh. It didn't. We talked. He wouldn't hear us. I even got Mia to come help but it didn't work." Wally groans as he sits down in a chair. "On top of that, my Vietnamese Lit paper is still due at 8 am. I don't suppose I could copy off yours?"

Artemis chuckles and kisses his cheek. "Not a chance."

"Hey, it's after midnight. Happy Valentine's Day, Artemis."

"You remembered." _"I wonder if Mia reminded him."_

"Come on! What kind of jerk would I be if I forgot Valentine's Day for the fourth year in a row?" _"Thank god Mia reminded me the first year."_

"Well, I remembered too." Artemis walks to the fridge wearing Wally's jersey, "I got you your favorite food," she opens it, "Everything."

"Babe, you rock."

He walks over and hugs her.

"You're still worried about Roy."

"He's lost, babe. Alone. The guy just won't let anyone in."

* * *

Roy walks in the run-down apartment through the window. He takes off his mask revealing the dark bags underneath his eyes. The man relaxes on the couch not noticing someone in his kitchen.

"Someone looks worse for wear."

Roy quickly notches an arrow aiming at the intruder. Said intruder walks closer revealing to be Chesire.

"Chesire."

"Chill, Red," she takes off her mask. "I'm not here to fight. I'm here to make you clean up your act."

He groans. "Not you, too. Well, forget it, Jade. You lost the right to backseat drive when you left me to return to a life of crime," Roy went back to sit on the couch.

"That's not why I left," she slides off a backpack strap, "It was just a side benefit. Besides, I'm still your wife, legally. Grants me certain privileges to knock sense into you. Roy, I left because your obsession with finding Speedy was all-consuming." She crouches down in front of him. "There wasn't room in your life for anything else, or anyone — not me, and not our daughter," Jade turns to show a little girl with red hair sleeping.

"We...we have a daughter?"

Jade takes off the bag. "Lian Nguyen Harper. She needs her father, Roy. You have to get your head on straight, for her," she hands Lian to Roy who's still shell shocked about the fact he has a daughter, "And that means you need to exorcise Speedy's ghost once and for all. So, while I was away, I called in every chip I had. I got us a lead, Red. One last chance to find the original Roy Harper."

* * *

In Central City, a certain detective waits for his superhero fiancée with dinner in the oven. Lola rests her head on his lap. She softly growls and looks up at Evan with Puss in Boots eyes.

"I know girl. I'm worried too," he pets her head.

"Evan, you still up?"

He turns his gaze to the kitchen entrance to see Mia roughed up a bit, small blotch of dried blood on her forehead and a sad smile. Lola heads over to her. She gets on her hind legs and licks Mia's face.

"Hey Lola."

Lola cleans off Mia's wound then hops down to let Evan talk.

Evan walks over gently cupping her cheek. "Do I have to take down Harper for treating you like this?"

A dark look appears on his face; ready to murder Roy.

She smiles. "He didn't do this. You'd think I'd let him get the first punch in?"

"No."

"Then you don't have to get all Wolverine now do you?"

Evan chuckles. "No. I guess not," he looks at her clenched hand, "What's in your hand?"

Sadness sweeps over her face. "Something that was alive wanted to go back to sleep but now it's gone forever."

He gently opens her hand. In her hand are slivers of crystal, wood, stone and metal. Looking into her eyes, Evan can see them shine with unshed tears. An idea pops in his head.

He smiles. "I've got a guy who can make these as charms for a bracelet. What do you think?"

A few tears escape but she still smiles, "I would love that."

Evan takes the slivers and sets them on the kitchen table. A glint of mischief appears in his eyes. Mia watches him warily. Before she can ask him, he picks her up and twirls her around in the kitchen. Mia shrieks in delight and laughs loudly. A pounding sound coming from the ceiling causes them to stop.

A muffled voice yells. "Knock it off! Some of us are trying to sleep!"

Mia and Evan look at each other laughing. They shout in unison, "Sorry!"

Their foreheads touch. Nothing else in the world can bother them in this exact moment.

"Happy Valentine's Day Amelia."

"Happy Valentine's Day Evan."

They kiss each other. Said kiss slowly becomes steamy. With Mia still in his arms, Evan heads to the bedroom where they can finish the night off with some fun.


	7. Triple Date

**Disclaimer: I do not own YJ, they belong to DC. I own Mia and co!**

 _ **Central City**_

 _ **February 14, 09:30 CST**_

Mia breathes in deeply as she stretches in bed. She rubs the sleep out of her eyes. When she tries getting up, something heavy lays across her body. Mia lifts her head to see and she smiles. Lola's sprawled all over Mia not giving a care in the world. _"Even if she's a predator, she's still a lazy ass cat."_

Not wanting to push her off, Mia just teleports out from the bed and appears in front of the closet. She pulls off a hoodie from a hangar and wears it. The hem of the hoodie reaches mid-thigh; it's her favorite because it's Evan's hoodie. She can't stop smiling every time she wears it. The smell of cooking brings Mia's attention back to reality.

She leaves Lola to continue sleeping and heads to the kitchen. Mia spots Evan making pancakes. He dances and hums along to the radio. Not wanting to ruin the moment, Mia leans against the wall and pulls out her phone to record him. Evan has yet to notice Mia so he just continues to dance and hum.

~ "She wants to dance like Uma Thurman

Bury me til I confess.

She wants to dance like Uma Thurman and I can't get you out of my head.

I can move mountains. I can work a miracle, work a miracle.

Oh, oh

I keep you like an oath

May nothing but death do us part" ~

The instrumental part plays. He takes the pan off the stove and places it in the sink after making the last pancake. Right as he turns around, the color drains from his face. There leaning against the wall is Mia with her phone out recording him.

"M-Mia w-what..." He clears his throat. "What are you doing?" he smiles nervously.

"Me? Oh nothing. I'm just recording my adorkable fiancé singing and dancing. Nothing big," Mia smiles mischievously.

Evan slowly starts walking towards her. "Mia give me the phone."

"Hmm," she taps her chin. "How about no?"

He playfully growls and chases after her. They run around the apartment like kids chasing each other on the playground. Evan eventually catches her by grabbing her from behind. He starts kissing her neck. Mia laughs and continues to record them. She lifts the phone and switches the screen to selfie mode.

"So Ev, want to say anything to the people who's watching this in the future?"

He looks up smiling at the camera. "Find someone you want to spend the rest of your life with. It doesn't matter who you love, just love them for who they are. On a side note, I would like to apologize for my troublemaker of a wife."

"I have _never_ been a troublemaker in my life!"

"Oh yeah?" he challenges.

"Yeah."

"Then explain to me why you started a bar brawl while we were in England?"

"He had it coming! No one disses Manchester United in front of my face unless they want a brawl."

"See what I mean?"

Mia scoffs. "Whatever you say honey."

He smirks then kisses her. She kisses back. Mia stops recording. She places the phone back in the hoodie pocket and looks to him.

"Happy Valentine's Day."

"Happy Valentine's Day."

They kiss again.

Evan pulls away first. "So, what do you want to do?"

"Let's stay in."

"Come on Mia. Let's go out and smell the flowers."

"Ugh fine. Let me change first then we'll go."

Mia quickly changes and they're out the door. They walk around town with hands intertwined enjoying each other's company. As they wall by a photography store, Evan stops when he sees someone familiar leave the store.

"Is that Miguel?"

Mia looks too. "Huh. It is. Oi Mig—"

She stops when they see a young man walks towards Miguel. He kisses him right on the lips.

"Good for him. I'm glad that Miguel fou…Mia?"

Mia's beyond mad. She starts storming towards the couple shouting. "Miguel Alejandro Fuentes Ramires West-Allen! No puedo creer que nunca me dijiste que estas citas!"*

Miguel turns his head to the sound of his furious sister. He sees her walking over to him with fire in her eyes.

"Miguel, do you know her?" the guy asks.

He slowly nods. "She's my sister."

"Oh! Well it's about time I met her. I've been bugging you for the longest time now."

"Yeah but not like this!"

"You told me she's the sincerest and most acceptable person on the planet."

"She is!"

"Then what's the problem?" He glances away. "Are you ashamed of being with me?"

"NO!" Miguel grabs his hands. The boyfriend looks back to him. "No, no, no, I will _never_ be ashamed of you. You're the one I love, mi amor, and no one can take that away from me."

"So why are you afraid?"

"I don't think she'll…" His boyfriend's eyes glance behind him. "She's right behind me, isn't she?"

He nods.

Miguel turns around laughing nervously. "Hola mi dulce hermana. Como estas?"*

Mia starts speaking Spanish at a rapid pace. Miguel understands everything but tries to calm her down. Evan walks over to greet the boyfriend.

"Hey man, I'm Evan. Mia's fiancé and Miguel's soon to be brother-in-law," he stretches out his hand.

The guy shakes it. "Nice to meet you. I'm Anthony Rossi, Miguel's…um…"

Evan smiles. "You're his boyfriend. I understand and you seem like a nice guy to me but I'm not the one you have to worry about."

He glances at his fiancé. Anthony follows his gaze. The two siblings are still conversing in Spanish.

"You understand any of that?" Evan wonders.

"Nope. Although Spanish and Italian are Latin-based languages, I honestly have no clue what they're saying."

"Italian huh?"

"Oh yeah. Full blooded. My folks moved us here when I was about three years old."

"What part of Italy?"

"Calabria."

"Isn't that where they make sausage?"

"Salami."

Evan snaps his finger. "Right. Never had it but I hear it's amazing."

"If Miguel doesn't end up dying by his sister's hand, maybe the two of you would like to come over. My father makes too much salami for me."

"Of course. We'll bring the drinks."

Miguel looks to Evan for help. "Hermano, help me out here. Please."

He nods. "I got you." Evan excuses himself and walks over to Mia. "Now Mia."

"Oh no Evan. Don't even think about trying to rescue him. I will not—"

Evan whispers in her ear. She stops talking. After a few more seconds, her eyes have a mischievous glint.

"You sure?"

"Yes, I am."

"All right but it's your funeral."

"Whatever you say," he kisses her head.

She turns her attention to Anthony and holds out her hand. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Amelia Rosa Fuentes Ramires West-Allen O'Brian, Miguel's older sister."

"Nice to finally meet you. Miguel's told me a lot about you. I'm Anthony Rossi and I've been..." Her eyes burn with intensity. "I've been...date...I've been dating Miguel for some time now," Anthony shakes her hand.

"How long?" she slowly tightens her grip.

"About a year."

"A year huh?"

"Y-Yes."

"I see." Mia tightens the grip to the point she can break his hand. Her voice lowers, "Listen here Rossi. I love my brother and I've been taking care of him since forever. I _will_ hurt you if anything happens to him. The minute I hear you crushed his sweet, innocent little heart, I will not hesitate to ensure he won't have to worry about you ever again. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes."

Anthony winces a little as Mia still grips his hand tightly. Miguel intervenes. He gets in-between her and his boyfriend and frees his hand. His hand grabs his boyfriend's hand and begins to softly massage it.

"I'm sorry. She can be a bit overprotective but she means well. Are you ok mi amor?" Miguel softly speaks.

"I'm okay. You know I don't get hurt so easily."

"Just because you're an MMA fighter doesn't mean I'll stop worrying about you. Besides, you've never seen my sister fight before."

"So, in a fight between your sister and I...you side with her?" he raises a brow.

"I've seen you fight mi amor." He chuckles. "You don't stand a chance against her."

"Have a bit more faith in me. I think I can take her."

"And it's comments like that that makes me worry."

"Don't worry about me so much mio piccolo drago."

"Heh. I'll never stop."

"Just the way I like it," he smiles.

They touch foreheads. The couple is in their own world. Nothing, _nothing_ can break into it.

Another voice speaks out. "Mia? Miguel? Evan? Anthony? What's going on?"

…Never mind then. They look over to see Tulio holding hands with a red head, blue eye young woman.

" _She's cute. Might be Irish."_ "Oh, and how long have you two been dating?" Mia crosses her arms.

"It...it would be a year in March," Tulio answers.

Mia smiles sweetly at the girl. "Mind if I take him for a moment? I need to have small conversation with him."

Tulio silently pleas with his girlfriend to _not_ let Mia do it. The red head nods. Mia grabs Tulio by the ear and drags him some feet away. Miguel follows _just_ in case he needs to save his brother. The Irish woman stands by Evan and Anthony.

"Hey Abi," Anthony smiles.

"Hi Tony," her Irish accent thick.

"Where did you two come from?"

"The printers. Tulio needed more paper for the printer at home."

"That's right. How's the article coming?"

"He says he's nearly done but _I_ know it's a load of bull."

"He _does_ love editing."

"Which is why he works at GBS."

"He does?" Evan cuts in.

"Sure does."

"For how long?"

"About a year and a half. Why?"

Evan shrugs. "He never told Mia."

"He didn't?" Tony asks. Evan shakes his head. "Huh, guess that means Miguel never told her about working there too."

"What?"

"Yeah, he's a photographer for them. Uses a pseudonym too."

"Why?"

"He doesn't like people knowing he photographs."

"It's the same with Tulio," Abi adds.

* * *

She looks at her brothers with disappointment. "When were you going to tell me that you two were dating? I can't believe you kept this from me for nearly a year. What did you think would happen?"

"We thought you wouldn't like who we were dating." Miguel glances away. "Especially me."

"Miguel, look at me." He doesn't. "Miguel."

Finally, he does. Tears threaten to spill. She cups his face. The dam breaks.

"I'm sorry."

Mia hushes him. "Hey, it's okay. Am I angry at you? Yes, but only about the fact you didn't tell you're dating someone. Am I angry at you for being gay? Hell no. It doesn't matter who you love as long as you at _least_ tell me about the person. Okay?"

He smiles. "Okay." _"It finally feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders."_

Mia turns to Tulio. He's been quiet this entire time.

"And your reason for keeping that sweet young woman over there a secret?"

"It just happened. I didn't mean to. I mean, I never even _told_ Miguel about her. We ended up bumping into each other at the park for the farmer's market."

"How did you meet her?"

"I went to Joe's Java. Victoria was working that day and she waves me over."

"What did she want?" _"Speaking of Victoria, I need to go say hi to her."_

"She needed help with the espresso machine and there was a line out the door so I lend a hand. It was after the rush when Victoria introduces me to Abigail. Told me she moved here from Dublin and wants to know the city. I showed her around," he shrugs. "The rest is history."

"Well, I would love to meet her. She sounds nice," Mia smiles. _"Boy, am I going to embarrass the two of you."_

The trio head back to their significant others. Mia quickly introduces herself to Abigail.

"Sorry about that. I'm Amelia, Tulio's older sister."

"Abigail Mackay."

"Tulio tells me you're from Dublin?"

"Yes."

Mia turns to Evan. "Don't you have family in Dublin?"

"I've got my cousins there."

"What's your last name?"

"O'Brian."

"Any relations to Sean O'Brian II?"

"He's my grandfather's brother's grandson."

"I know the lad! We went to the same secondary school years ago."

"Small world," Mia comments. "Now," everyone looks to her, "We all know each other, I would just like to say something to my brothers."

A sense of dread seeps into their bodies. _"She's going to embarrass me, I just know it,"_ they think to themselves.

"The only thing I ask is you guys use protection. Not that I don't mind having nieces and nephews but just be careful; especially you two," she eyes Tulio and Abigail.

"Oh my god," Tulio turns away with his face the shade of Abigail's hair.

Abigail laughs even though she's blushing as well. Miguel can't even look at anybody, not even Anthony. Anthony, on the other hand, squeezes Miguel's hand and kisses his cheek.

"Por que hermana?" Miguel begs. "Por que?"

The Ramires slip into a conversation in Spanish. The non-Spanish speakers shrug to each other like _What can we do? This is normal behavior._ A thought appears in their minds as they watch their beloveds talking, _"I love you."_

* * *

Translation:

* I can't believe you never told me you're dating!

* Hello, my sweet sister. How are you?


	8. Beneath

**Disclaimer: I do not own YJ, they belong to DC. I own my OCs!**

 _ **El Paso**_

 _ **February 18, 23:56 MST**_

A guy rides his skateboard down the road and nearly gets hit by a car. Said car stops just before hitting him. The driver honks at him. He ignores it as he continues to make his way to his destination, the bus depot. The guy pulls out his phone to call someone.

* * *

Somewhere in a random neighborhood, Jaime's sleeping on his bed with homework spread all around and a laptop by his side. His phone starts ringing. He wakes up. Looking at the caller id, Jaime answers it.

"Tye, it's almost midnight. What?"

'I've had enough, Jaime. I'm done letting Maurice push me around. I'm on the bus to Houston tonight. I'm at the depot now.'

" _What? He can't be serious."_ "Ooh, slow down, hermano."

'No, not this time. I just called to say goodbye.'

Jaime stands up. "Tye, listen, I'm on my way. I'll meet you by the statue of Cochise, we'll talk. Just promise me you'll wait till I get there."

His armor appears and he flies out the window.

* * *

"No promises," Tye hangs up the phone.

He's unsure for a second then quickly decides to meet his best friend at the statue of Cochise. Before he makes it there, someone kidnaps him. Tye loses his helmet as his skateboard ends up behind a bench, away from prying eyes.

* * *

Jaime makes his way to the bus depot when the scarab starts talking.

'Your concern for this Tye is trivial. Our armor is intended for greater purpose.'

"I'm trying to stop a friend from making a massive mistake. What greater purpose is there?"

He reaches the depot and hides behind a bush. The armor comes off then Jaime quickly puts on his hoodie to hide the scarab. He looks around the statue but Tye wasn't there. The back door opens and an employee walks out.

"Excuse me, the bus to Houston?"

"You just missed it. But there will be another one in the morning," the guy says after checking the schedule in his hand.

He leaves. Jaime on the other hand was disappointed that he _just_ missed the bus. Not feeling up to flying back home, he walks instead. _"I can't believe Tye actually left. Why didn't he wait?"_

* * *

The Bioship flies into space then comes back down to Earth in camouflage mode.

 _ **Qurac**_

 _ **February 19, 19:06 UTC +2**_

'Investigating the origin of the alien bomb that destroyed the Krolotean invasion forces is still a high priority. We suspect the bomb may have been smuggled to Earth via boom tube. Watchtower sensor scans of Bialya have recorded an uptick in boom tube activity. Alpha squad, your mission is—' Nightwing was cut off.

"Sneak behind enemy lines, recon known boom tube hot spots, and find alien tech matching the bomb. Oh," Cassie turns on her suit's stealth mode, "And don't get caught or create an international incident. Right?"

'That about covers it.'

Mia can't stop the smile spreading across her face. _"Cassie's a sweet girl. I need to have some bonding time with her."_

"Psimon—" M'gann somewhat asks.

'We have confirmation that Bialya's telepathic enforcer's still catatonic in a Quraci hospital after his last encounter with you. But Bialya's dictator, Queen Bee…'

Mia fake coughs. "Queen Bitch," her throat clears.

Barbara hides her smile behind her hand. Karen bites her lower lip. M'gann glances away trying to stop the smile forming on her face. Cassie is the only one to laugh at Mia's comment. All Nightwing can do is raise an eyebrow and continue his conversation.

'Is another story. Her ability to control the minds of men is why Alpha is an all-female squad for this mission.'

Mia opens her mouth to make a retort but Barbara beats her to the punch.

Barbara crosses her arms. "Oh, really? And would you have felt the need to justify an all-male squad for a given mission?"

All of them give him looks of annoyance, especially Mia. She takes off her cowl and stands up with her arms crossed and a brow raised.

"Well Nightwing? I would just _love_ to hear your reasoning behind the subject."

He starts getting nervous. "Ahem. Uh…t-there's no right answer for that, is there? So…Nightwing out,' he quickly ends the transmission.

" _Hook, line and sinker,"_ Mia thought to herself.

"Queen Bee isn't the only woman who can mess with a man's mind," Barbara states.

"I hear that," Mia walks over to Barbara.

They high-five each other and all of them laugh. Mia goes back to her seat and puts on her cowl. _"Even though I like Babs, I just wish Dick and Zatanna were still together. They made such a cute couple."_

* * *

Back in El Paso, Jaime walks over to Tye's house and knocks on the door. The door opens revealing Tye's mother.

"Jaime. What are you doing here?" she looks around nervously before ushering him inside.

"I'm looking for Tye, Mrs. Longshadow. Is he home?"

She stands off to the side to let Jaime walk in.

"He was gone when I woke up this morning. He should be at school."

"He's not and he's not answering his cell. Last night he called me from the bus depot, said he was running away to Houston."

Mrs. Longshadow sits on the sofa, "He threatens to do that a lot, Jaime. You know that."

"I know, but last night he sounded…it doesn't matter," he quickly sits down on the armrest opposite to Tye's mother, "I went to the bus depot and he was gone. But the clerk told me nobody bought a ticket for the Houston bus last night. Nobody boarded." _"I'm getting really worried about Tye. If he didn't buy the ticket, then where is he?"_

"Th-there, you see? He and Maurice, my boyfriend, they had another of their disagreements last night, so Tye's blowing off steam somewhere."

" _For the whole night and half the morning? I don't think so."_ "What kind of disagreement?"

Before she answers, the door opens and Maurice walks in.

Mrs. Longshadow quickly stood up "Maurice, you're home."

He sees Jaime sitting on the armrest. "Forgot my lunch, Shelly," he closes the door, "What's the kid doing here?"

Jaime glances at Shelly but she looks away. He tells the truth.

"I'm looking for Tye, Mr. Bodaway."

"You're ditching," he smirks. "And I'm a school employee, kid. Gonna have to report your butt to Principal Sanchez."

"Go ahead. I'm on a free period," Jaime challenges.

'Bio feedback of this Maurice indicates hostile intent. Recommend preemptive strike.'

"Don't make faces at me, kid, or I'll take care of you the way I took care of—"

"Of Tye? Did you do something to Tye?"

"Why, you little punk."

'Attack imminent. Activating plasma cannon.'

Scarab starts to mobilize the weapon but Jaime stops him before it manages to shoot Maurice.

"No!" Jaime hides his hand in his pocket.

Shelly stood between them. "Maurice didn't touch Tye last night. They had an argument and Tye took off."

"Ran off, like always." Maurice's smirk appears again, "Tail between his legs."

"Anyway, Jaime was just leaving."

She takes him over to the front door and walks out with him but doesn't leave the front door.

"Don't mind Maurice. He's just having a bad day."

"I hear he has a lot of bad days."

"Good ones, too. Occasionally." Shelly looks away then back to Jaime, "But I'm sure Tye is fine. He stays with his grandfather sometimes. He's probably there now."

She enters back into the house.

"I hope you're right."

Jaime starts walking to Tye's grandfather's place. _"There's evidence that she's being abused but unless she says something, the police can't do anything to help."_

 _ **Bialya**_

 _ **February 20, 00:12 UTC +2**_

Alpha squad arrives at yet another boom tube hot spot but this time, they get lucky.

"The other boom tube hot spots have all been busts, but…" Barbara starts off.

"But this much security must be guarding some big deal alien stuff, right?" Cassie wonders.

Mia shrugs trying to make the moment less serious. "Or their guarding Queen Bitch's wardrobe."

She looks over to Cassie and winks at her. The latter smiles, grateful to have the former on the squad. _"She's like the big sister I've never had. I guess now I understand why Nightwing always calls Mia his big sister. Mia can be tough and demanding but she's also gentle and caring, just like an older sibling."_

"Our job is to find out," soon M'gann starts giving out orders "Batgirl, take the North hangar. I'll take the South. Bee, the middle. Wonder Girl and Blink, hold position."

"Roger that."

"What? Wait, why can't I go in?"

Mia frowns, feeling bad for the young girl. _"She's so disappointed."_

Karen tries to explain. "Cause, you're Wonder Girl, honey, not Stealther Girl."

"I can do this."

"No one's knocking your enthusiasm, Cass, and if we were in a fire fight, there's no one I would rather have beside me," Barbara tries.

"But we're trying to avoid a fight and we need a lookout," M'gann ends the conversation there.

"What about Blink then?"

"I've been out of the game for a while. My stealth is still a bit rusty," Mia answers.

"Use the psychic link only. The Bialyans have the tech to intercept our radios. Anything goes wrong, we scatter and meet at the rendezvous point. Clear?"

"Clear."

"Clear."

"Clear."

They turn to Cassie.

She sighs, "Clear." Cassie realizes her mistake, "I mean, clear."

By the time Cassie looks back up, they're gone. Mia wraps her arm around Cassie's shoulders and pulls her into a side hug.

"Don't worry Cassie, your time will come. For now, just endure it and let the moment come naturally to you, don't force it. Besides, you've got me with you so don't be a Debbie Downer. Okay?" Mia speaks barely above a whisper.

Cassie just nods and lays her head on Mia's shoulder.

* * *

Meanwhile, M'gann flies over the hangar in camouflage mode. Once she reachs the roof, M'gann uses density shifting and phases through the roof in order to get inside. Karen, already shrunken, gets in through the ventilation system. She arrives in a large storage room filled with tanks, bombs, anything that would make things go "boom" but no alien tech though.

* * *

Barbara manages to reach the side of the hangar without being spotted. She fires her grappling hook to the top of the hangar and climbs up. Once her feet touched the roof, she runs to the entrance of the ventilation system. Barbara uses a baterang to take out the grate carefully then jumps in silently.

* * *

Mia and Cassie were watching Barbara from their lookout location. Cassie lowers the binoculars.

Cassie sighs in frustration. "I could have done that."

Mia softly laughs, "When we get back, I'll teach you."

Before Cassie responds, the sound of a truck grabs her attention and Mia's as well. Using the binoculars, Cassie spots four people exit the back of the truck: Mammoth, Devastation, Icicle Jr. and Shimmer. She takes a closer look and sees Psimon exiting the passenger's side.

"Uh-oh."

"What? What's wrong?"

Cassie hands over the binoculars to Mia. She looks through it and her shoulders tensed.

"Damn it," she curses softly.

"Radio's not safe. Now psychic link's a no-go. We have to warn the others the hard way."

Before Cassie even stands up, Mia grabs her shoulder and grips it tightly. Holding back a wince Cassie looks at Mia to see a blank expression but her eyes are as hard as stone.

"Don't even _think_ about doing something stupid. I'm responsible for you until Diana gets back and there's no way in hell that you're getting badly injured on _my_ watch. You go in, inform them then we'll regroup to figure out what to do next. Is that understood?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. Now get going while I'll keep watch."

"B-But how will you communicate with us?"

"I have my ways," she smirks.

Cassie nods then flies to the South hangar's roof top. She does the same thing Barbara did and manages to not make a sound. Binoculars in hand, Mia kept a watchful eye on Psimon and the other villains. _"Now what are you five up to?"_

"Why don't you just ask them?" a voice whispers.

Mia feels a chill run down her spine yet she never hears the voice at all.

* * *

Cassie manages to get inside the hangar and spots M'gann, who's still in camouflage mode. When she starts to move, Cassie flies after her. After grabbing M'gann's shoulder Cassie uses hand signals to stay quiet because of Psimon. A small note appears in front of M'gann. She quickly reads it.

" _Psimon spotted. No psychic link."_

M'gann looks back to Cassie whispering. "I've shut down our psychic link, but we need to alert the others. You warn Bumblebee, I'll warn Batgirl. Meet at the rendezvous point ASAP," Cassie goes to leave but M'gann stops her. "Hey, you did good, Cassie."

"What about Blink?"

"She can take care of herself," M'gann phases through the wall.

Cassie smiles and goes out the same way she came in. She reaches the edge of the rooftop then smirks.

"Who's Stealther Girl now?" Cassie flies over to the next rooftop.

Mia watches and relaxes a little when she sees Cassie flying over to the next rooftop. However, her heart stops when she spots Devastation going after Cassie. Devastation grabs Cassie by her ankles and throws her to the ground.

"Oh no she didn't," Mia mutters and teleports to help Cassie deal with the villain.

* * *

Jaime reaches _Happy Trails_ trailer park where Tye's grandfather lives. He walks in and comes out with a cup of water.

"Here you go, Mr. Longshadow."

"Thank you, Jaime."

"So, have you seen Tye?"

Holling lifts his hand and slurps from the cup.

"Ahh. Not in a few weeks. But I wouldn't worry. You see, Tye comes from a long line of Mescalero Apache chiefs. I believe he has begun a journey of awakening that will connect him to his heritage and show him the path to his destiny."

'This Holling Longshadow appears imbalanced. Our time is wasted here. We should interrogate the more recent with extreme prejudice.'

"Uh, wow. Um, that's something," Jaime takes a seat across from Holling. "But I was thinking Tye's mom's boyfriend Maurice might have—"

Holling slurps again before speaking.

"Ahh. Oh, Maurice. Years ago, he was jealous of Tye's father's role as head of our band. Now he's jealous of Tye. But he's just a distraction. He plays no part in Tye's vision quest. Or yours, for that matter."

"Mine?" Jaime was surprised to say the least. _"What is he saying?"_

"You search for answers, but the answers you seek will find you. Only then will you make peace with the one inside you."

'He knows too much. Eliminate him!'

Scarab starts to armorize. Jaime quickly covers his hand.

He stands up. "Thanks, Mr. Longshadow. I'll let you know when I find Tye. Enjoy your, uh, water."

Holling narrows his eyes at Jaime as the young teen walks away from the trailer park rather quickly. He slurps his water.

* * *

The alarm goes off and the soldiers begin mobilizing. Devastation still holds Cassie on the ground, keeping her immobile.

"And who the heck are you? Wonder Baby? Wonder Brat? The Blond Wonder?"

"Devastation, what's going on?" Icicle Jr. appears and points to Cassie. "Who is that?"

"She's less than forthcoming on that point, Junior. But I'm betting she's not here alone," Devastation states.

"And here I thought you were all brawn and no brain. Good job Devastation."

They look over to the side and watch Mia walking out from the shadows.

"And who are you?" Junior asks checking her out.

"No one you need to worry about. Now Devastation," she looks at her right in the eyes, "Let her go now or I'm afraid I'll have to kick your ass."

Devastation just laughs at Mia. Junior joins and the soldiers behind him join in too.

"Oh," Devastation sighs. "I haven't had a good laugh in a long time. What makes you think I'll listen to you?"

"Did I stutter? Let. Her. Go. Now."

"I've had enough of this. Junior, take her out."

"With pleasure."

He turns towards Mia with a smirk. Mia, on the other hand, has a blank expression but her eyes burn with the need to protect those she loves.

"You might get frostbite," he tries flirting.

"Looks like I'll just have to warm things up, don't I?"

Mia attacks first. Junior throws his ice at her but she just dodges them effortlessly. Eventually, she disappears then appears behind him.

"Better luck next time Jack Frost."

He turns his head. "How did you—"

Mia punches him right in the jaw, knocking him out in the process. She wipes her hands then looks over at Devastation with an unimpressed expression.

"That all you got?"

"On the contrary dear child," Mia turns around to see Psimon taking off his hood. "It's just the beginning."

* * *

Karen makes her way out when the exit suddenly closes leaving her temporarily trapped in the hangar. _"Ugh. Better find another way out."_ She starts to fly away but stops when a small folded paper appears in front of her. Quickly opening the note, Karen scans it then destroys it.

She flies double time in searching for a way out. The words playing on a loop in her head. _"Psimon alive. Warn BG."_

* * *

Cassie struggles under Devastation's hold as Mia faces off Psimon. Her eyes narrow at the man in front of her. The latter only smiles as he finally "recognizes" her.

"So, you've finally revealed yourself. I've always wanted to meet you, the one person's mind I can't read. Even now I can't read your mind but I'll just try harder."

"Yeah good luck with that bub. No one's been able to read my mind for years."

"Allow me to be the first then."

Psimon sends a psychic blast at Mia. It hits her but she stands tall. She goes after him and manages to punch him once. As she winds up for the second punch, her body freezes. Mia struggles against it but it's useless. Luckily Psimon has been able to do this before he sustains any further damage.

"That was unexpected," he stands up and straightens himself up then smiles at her. "Now. What would we find in that wonderfully guarded mind of yours?"

He forces his way into her mind only to be forced out. A look of confusion sets on his face so he tries again. The results are the same. Psimon goes in for a third time because the third time's a charm. This time the results are different.

* * *

Looking around all he sees is white. He wonders if this is what her mind is actually like or all he manages to do is arrive at the surface. Suddenly Psimon sees something making his blood run cold. He never gets scared except for the one time when M'gann placed him in a catatonic state but this...this literally made him shake with fear.

Psimon sees an exact copy of Mia standing mere feet away but her appearance is different. Instead of the superhero suit, she wears a tight black ninja clothes, hair wild and loose, and face covered in paint so her appearance would look like a lioness; Labiwa. The assassin gives her own version of the Chesire Cat smile to Psimon making him step back.

"W-What are you?" he finally speaks.

She flips her hair out of her face. Labiwa looks at him right in the eyes as her own burn with darkness, "Your worst nightmare."

The surge of power radiating from her causes him to fall to his knees. He can't believe someone has this amount of darkness within them. Normally, Psimon won't even bat an eye at this since he's around villains all the time and is used to it but this is different. A hero with this much darkness would've succumb to it long ago but this host hasn't yet; even Batman doesn't have this much darkness within him. Psimon quickly comes up with a plan.

"Let's make a deal. You let me read her mind and I'll free you. What do you say?"

Labiwa smirks. "I've got my own way of getting out of here. You're in the way. Now. Get. Out."

She expels him out of Mia's mind.

* * *

Back in the material world, Psimon gasps and falls onto one knee. His eyes wide by what he just encountered. Looking over at the frozen Mia, he sees the same dark Chesire Cat smile on her face. He gets back on his feet pointing a finger at her.

"Get me as far away as possible from her. Kill her!"

Some of the soldiers guard Psimon while one remains and aims his gun at Mia. Junior gains consciousness and is back on his feet too. He sees the soldier aiming his gun at Mia so he turns his attention back to Cassie. The latter manages to break free from Devastation's hold and flies away.

"Stop her!" Junior yells.

The soldier ready to kill Mia, looks away giving Mia enough time to teleport out of there. Mammoth appears and Psimon comes back again to see Cassie fly away and Mia already gone.

"Search every inch of the facility."

The guards follow Psimon's order. In one of the hangars, Karen manages to get into a vent in the ground before she's spotted. She flies through the vents until she comes upon Barbara, who's momentarily stuck.

"Girl, you look like turkey stuffing on Thanksgiving."

"Thank you, that's very helpful."

"This was your escape route?"

"No. I was already here when the alarm sounded and the psychic link went down. What happened up there?"

"No idea but I got a note from Blink about the reason behind why it went down, Psimon. Now let's get to the rendezvous point and find out the rest but not through the hangars. They're sealed up tight."

Barbara struggles a little then pulls out a small machine showing a holographic schematic. "I've scanned the air shafts. They connect all three hangars, but they also lead to a larger chamber 20 meters below."

Plan changes and they decide to check out the large chamber. When they arrive, the girls are utterly shocked. The large chamber turns out to be a temple hidden from mankind for thousands of years. The only modern part about it, is the fact that Queen Bee's men had set up computers and lights to illuminate the large temple.

Karen turns to Babs. "Can you say Temple of Doom?" she flies up a little, "This place must be thousands of years old. What do you make of it, Batgirl?" She turns around to find her gone. "Batgirl?" _"Now I know why Mia always complained about Nightwing disappearing when he was Robin."_

* * *

Barbara sneaks by the soldiers without being spotted. She finds a large cargo plane. Silently jumping down, Barbara quickly sprints towards some pods. She looks at them and notices kids in them. Her eyes wide as she sees more kids in pods. Out of nowhere a psychic blast hits her and falls to the ground unconscious.

The five villains surround Barbara. Karen, still undetected, watches everything. Mammoth drags Barbara into an open pod.

"Are you serious? The rest of these kids are runaways, strays. They won't be missed. But a Bat brat?" Junior questions.

With Barbara secured inside the pod, Mammoth rejoins the group.

"Batman himself is out of the picture. And if anyone else misses her, Psimon says he just doesn't care."

Devastation pats his shoulder. "Psimon, I like the way that pretty brain of yours thinks."

"Thank you, Devastation. Now, help Mammoth load the cargo, Bat brat included, onto the plane. Shimmer, prepare for takeoff and go upstairs and confirm the flight plan. I want this bird in the air in ten."

Everyone follows their orders. Devastation picks up Barbara's pod and takes her onto the plane. Shimmer walks over to the control panel and opens the hangar door after pressing a button. Furious about her friend and teammate being taken away, Karen flies out of the hangar to grab backup.

* * *

Back in El Paso at Rio Grande High School, Jaime watches Maurice lock a tool shed behind the school. He walks over to said shed. Looking around to make sure Maurice isn't coming back, Jaime picks the lock with Scarab's help.

'The plasma cannon would have provided a more direct tactic.'

"And vaporize Tye if he's inside."

Maurice appears behind Jaime and throws him away from the shed.

'Activating plasma cannon now,' Scarab exclaims.

The cannon already formed and Jaime tries to power it down.

"No!"

"Breaking and entering, kid? I ought to call the cops."

'We are under attack. Why do you resist? Destroy the Maurice.'

"I said no!" Jaime finally manages to get the cannon to power down.

"No cops, huh? Then how about I teach you a lesson myself?" Maurice punches his hand to show he meant business.

Finally, Jaime stands up to face Maurice.

"Is that what happened to Tye? Did you teach him a lesson, too? Did you stuff him into that shed because some day he'll become a tribal chief and you never will?"

The older man laughs at Jaime's accusations. "Oh, kid, you've got some funny ideas in that head of yours. I don't want to be chief. Tribal leaders work for free, I'm only interested in jobs that pay."

"Sorry, I'm not buying it."

He jumps over to the shed and dodges Maurice's attempt in grabbing him. Once he's at the shed's door, Jaime opens it expecting to see Tye tied up and gagged but stops when he all sees are boxes filled with DVDs.

"What is all this? Pirated DVDs and games?"

Maurice pushes him off to the side and locks up the shed again.

"Now, forget you saw any of this, or I will make you very sorry," he threatens.

"What about Tye? What have you done with him?"

"I don't know where Shelly's punk kid is and I don't care."

He shoves Jaime and walks away.

'Voice analysis confirms that Maurice speaks truth.'

"Yeah, I got that, too. I'll turn him in for the pirated stuff in the shed. He'll get what he deserves. But he really doesn't know what happened to Tye, and neither do we." _"Damn it!"_ Jaime walks away from the school.

* * *

Meanwhile, the rest of Alpha squad are at the rendezvous point. The others are taking _way_ too long.

"It's been too long. Something happened to Batgirl and Bee and it's all my fault for getting spotted," Cassie begins to pace.

"Cassie, calm down. Every mission takes an unexpected turn. We recover and adapt. That's rule one," M'gann explains.

"Ain't that the truth," Mia adds.

She places her arm around Cassie's shoulder and pulls her into a side hug. Cassie relaxes a little on the inside grateful for Mia's warming touch.

"Sounds about right," Karen appears.

Cassie gasps. "Bee! You're alive!"

"Was that really in doubt?" she places her hand on her hips.

"Well…" Mia starts with a smirk on her face.

"Have you seen Batgirl?" M'gann asks.

"Captured. So, we have to go now. I'll brief you three on the way. I have a plan."

On the way back, Karen briefs them on what went down. M'gann levitates Mia since it's faster that way. As they get closer, a sharp pain in Mia's head cause her to wince.

Mia hisses. "Damn it."

Cassie looks at her with worry. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Just a headache."

"How long have you had it?" M'gann asks.

"It started the day before Valentine's Day. I haven't taken any medication for it."

"Maybe you should start."

Mia shakes her head. "I'll be fine. Let's just focus on getting Batgirl back."

* * *

Psimon and Icicle Jr. wait outside the plane for Mammoth and Devastation to finish up. As soon as they did, Devastation announces it.

"Cargo's secured."

"Just need a couple more minutes to complete refueling," Junior states.

Psimon's pleased with the progress and walks over to another part of the hangar. Shimmer makes her way down on a lift not noticing M'gann phasing through the floor. She only turns around when she feels a tap on her shoulder. Looking behind her, Shimmer sees an exact copy of herself.

M'gann knocks out Shimmer and hides her body.

Karen and Mia sneak into the cargo hold and start searching for Barbara. While Karen does that, Mia can't help but stare at all the captured kids. Her heart aches at the sight of it all. All of these kids just vanished out of thin air and no one has even tried searching for them. That made Mia think, _"Is that what happened to us when we got kidnapped? Did no one on the island search for us? Did they even try?"_

"I found her," Karen whispers.

Mia snaps out of her stupor and sprints towards Karen. They look over the tech trying to figure out how to open the stupid pod. The one to figure it out is Karen. She presses a button and the pod opens up.

"Batgirl. Batgirl, wake up," Karen whispers.

"Let me try," Mia pats Barbara's cheek and she still doesn't wake up. "I can try harder."

"No!" she whisper yells.

Sighing, Karen looks at Barbara's sleeping form. "You're really gonna make me do this, aren't you?"

Karen zaps Barbara in the chest.

She gasps. "Ahh. Did you just—"

"Sorry, girl. But we've got a cargo plane full of abductees here and you're the only one qualified to fly it to safety. Which is ironic since you and Blink are the only ones on Alpha that can't fly."

"Gee thanks Bee. Feeling the love," Mia pouts.

Barbara steps out of the pod and towards the control console. "Yeah, ironic."

* * *

Once M'gann has hidden Shimmer's body, she heads to the panel and places the entire place on lockdown. Psimon turns around to see the entrance up top is closed and "Shimmer" is at the controls.

"Shimmer, what are you—" She turns her head smirking. "Martian!"

"Hello, Psimon. Ready for a rematch?"

"Plane's fully refueled. What's going on?" Junior asks.

"The Martian is here, posing as Shimmer." Mammoth growls after hearing that. "We're engaged in psychic battle."

"Dude, you don't exactly have a winning record against her," Junior states the obvious.

"I don't have to win. I only have to hold her attention on a psychic plane while you kill her in the material world."

"Devastation's right. Your brain is pretty."

While they aren't paying attention, the plane starts to power up.

"Wait! Who's at the controls?" Devastation exclaims.

"Mammoth, Devastation, stop that plane. Junior, close the hangar door," Psimon orders.

Karen flies in and starts zapping Mammoth with her stingers right in his face. Devastation jumps forward landing on the wing of the plane. Junior manages to reach the panel and slams down on the button to close the hangar door.

As the hangar door closes, Mia and Babs hear something above them. The top is ripped open like a can of beans with Devastation as the culprit. She bends down and tries grabbing at least one of them.

"Alpha, little help?" Barbara asks.

"Today would be nice," Mia adds as she dodges Devastation's hand.

Before the door closes, Cassie stops it. She grips them tightly then pulls them off the hinges with her brute strength and flies in towards Devastation. Devastation's close to grabbing Barbara when she hears Cassie calling her name.

"Devastation," she turns around and gets punched by Cassie.

Devastation nearly falls off the plane but manages to stay on after grabbing the plane's tail wing. Mammoth hops on and joins the fight.

Psimon's actually struggling against M'gann on the psychic plane since he starts to sweat. Junior has an ice spear ready to kill her.

"This is for breaking my heart in Belle Reve, Martian."

Before he can kill her, Psimon starts shouting in pain as Karen zaps him keeping him distracted.

He faces her. "Psimon says enough!" and swats at her but misses.

"Bumblebee says good night."

She zaps his brain and he falls to the ground unconscious and defeated.

"Uh-oh," Junior says.

M'gann shifts back to her original form. "Uh-oh is right."

Using her telekinesis, M'gann tosses Junior into a column. He's down for the count.

Cassie's doing fine on her own managing to knock Mammoth down.

"Do you really think you stand a chance, Blondie? I've gone toe to toe with the actual Wonder Woman," Devastation jumps at her.

Cassie snatches her up using her lasso. "Yeah, but you never trained with her."

She tosses her into Mammoth and both fall off the plane.

"Yes! We did it!" Cassie exclaims.

"We're not out of the woods yet," Mia states.

The plane's close to takeoff when Mammoth throws a forklift at the plane, destroying one of the engines. The girls scream at the sudden destruction.

"I hate it when I'm right!" Mia screams holding onto the pilot's seat.

The plane jerks to the right scrapping against the wall. It loses the other wing then the plane, now without any wings and engines, falls out of the hangar and into the canyon.

"Do something!" Mia shouts.

"I can't. We lost both wings and engines!" Babs faces Mia. "You're gonna have to teleport us back into the air."

"Estás loca?! I've never teleported anything this fast and big before. I might end up killing us _and_ the abductees instead of saving!"

"Well what do you propose we do?" Babs exclaims.

"How should I know?! Batman didn't train me now did he?"

The girls jerk forward as Cassie tries to stop the plane from falling by pushing against the nose.

"It's too heavy."

"For me, too," M'gann says while using her telekinesis. "Time for Plan B."

A few meters away from crashing, the Bioship appears and latches onto the cargo plane.

"Good girl."

The Bioship saves the cargo plane and flies into the air with no problem. Cassie notices they aren't falling anymore and cheers.

"Whoo-hoo! Yes!" she laughs.

Barbara and Mia finally relax.

"I don't think I'll ride rollercoasters for a while," Mia states holding her stomach.

"I'm with you on that," Barbara holds her head.

 _ **Mount Justice**_

 _ **February 20, 03:24 EST**_

"Psimon planted mental suggestions in the minds of his doctors and nurses. They've been tending to an empty hospital bed for months. I'm sorry," Nightwing says.

"It had to happen eventually," M'gann answers.

"So, no sign of any alien tech?"

"None. But what we found was strange enough," Karen states.

"The place was like something from the mind of Spielberg," Mia adds.

"It was clear in Shimmer's mind that Queen Bee was acting as a middle man, delivering abducted humans to an unknown partner."

"We questioned all the abductees. Most were runaways. All were kidnapped after the destruction of Malina Island and the Kroloteans," Barbara informs.

"So, if the Bialyans weren't kidnapping humans for the Kroloteans, then who is this partner?" Nightwing wonders.

Cassie sighs. "Another unanswered question."

"New questions keep the investigation moving forward. You saved lives, and you got each other home safe. It's a successful mission in my book," he tells Cassie then looks to the rest of Alpha, "Good work, Alpha."

The girls surround Cassie, each of them proud of how she handled the mission. Nightwing taps Mia's shoulder then ushers her to follow him. When they're out of earshot from the others, he looks at her worriedly.

"You good?"

"To be honest, no," she looks away.

"What happened?"

"It wasn't anything too bad. Just questioning myself, if anyone back on Santo Miguel searched for my siblings and I, that's all. Seeing all those runaways got me thinking about it."

Nightwing's silent for a bit. Mia takes off her cowl then rubs her face. She brushes her hair out of her face and begins twirling the ends as a nervous tick.

He breaks the silence. "How long has it been since you've went back home?"

"You mean like seeing everyone?"

"Yeah."

Mia sighs. "Geez," she rubs the back of her neck, "I want to say a little over a decade. Why?"

"Maybe you should go see them with your brothers. I'm sure everyone would be glad to see you're alive," Dick suggests.

Mia's face turns dark. "No. Not until I can get Ana Sophia away from that murderous bastard Klarion. Once she's out of his reach then we'll visit the island. Excuse me."

Mia walks away leaving Nightwing behind. The sudden change in her mood throws him for a loop. Unsure if what he's about to do next is helpful, he pulls out his phone and dials the number he knows by heart. The phone rings for a few seconds until a familiar voice answers it.

'Dick?'

"Hey Z. Think you can do me a favor?"

'What kind of favor?' she asks skeptically.

"It's for Mia."

There's silence on her end of the phone before finally answering. 'Give me the details.'

* * *

"The loss of the cargo could have severely undermined our credibility. Fortunately, we had already collected a second shipment. Our partner should still be quite satisfied," Queen Bee states.

The soldiers roll in four more pods and in one of them is Tye.


	9. Black Magic

**Disclaimer: I do not own YJ, they belong to DC. I own my OCs!**

 _ **Central City**_

 _ **February 24, 19:47 CST**_

After constant nagging and pleading, Mia finally gets her brothers to bring Anthony and Abigail for dinner at her place. All six of them sit around the table eating, drinking and telling embarrassing stories. Mostly Mia since she knows more about what the Twins did when they were younger.

"Oh my god," Abby laughs behind her hand staring at Tulio with amusement, "I thought you were supposed to be the smart twin."

"I _am_ the smart twin."

"Well, not according to the story I just heard."

Tulio glared daggers at his twin. "That was your fault."

Miguel chokes on his wine. "Excuse me?" he wipes his mouth with a napkin, "You didn't have to tag along you know."

"I know but I had to keep an eye on you when everyone else was busy."

"We mudboard down Inferno Hill one time and somehow _I_ end up with the harsher punishment," Miguel says nonchalantly.

"What do you mean "we"? You dragged me down Inferno Hill against my will!" Tulio exclaims pointing a knife at him.

He shrugs. "Tomato, tomahto."

Soon enough the Twins start to yell at each other about what they did when they were younger and whose fault it was. Apparently, it's a normal occurrence between them since Abby and Tony continue to eat their dinner peacefully. Mia groans as she places her head in her hands. Evan, on the other hand, quietly laughs at the boys' "fight".

Suddenly the phone rings. Mia quickly excuses herself to answer it.

She picks it up. "O'Brian residence."

'Mia! It's Zatanna.'

Her eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "Well, this is a nice surprise. What can I do for you Z?"

'I've found her.'

"Who?"

'Your sister, Ana Sophia.'

For a second Mia's heart stops. She can't believe what she's hearing.

" _Did Z really find her?"_ "W-What?"

'I don't know her exact location but I have the general area of where she could be.'

"Let me put you on hold for a second Zatanna."

'Uh sure but hurry.'

After placing the phone down, Mia hurriedly walks back into the living room. She clears her throat gaining everyone's attention. A strained smile appears yet Mia tries to make it seem natural.

"Miguel, Tulio, can you two come into the kitchen with me for a minute?"

With trained eyes, the boys follow their sister into the kitchen after excusing themselves from the table. Abby and Tony are curious as to what's going on but Evan instantly knows something's up. _"I hope it isn't anything too bad."_

Once the siblings are in the kitchen, Mia picks up the phone again.

"You're on speaker Zatanna but keep your voice down, I've got civilians in my apartment."

'Ok, I'll make this quick. Ana Sophia is somewhere in Ireland.'

"Why?" Mia asks.

The Twins are shocked to learn their little sister is alive and currently in Ireland.

'I don't know but Ireland is one of many places on Earth that has ancient magic, _very_ ancient magic.'

"Is...Is she alone?"

'From what I could detect, yes. Klarion isn't with her,' Zatanna pauses. 'Mia…you should know that—'

"I know Z. I've had my ear to the ground about any information about her," Mia cuts her off.

In the back of her closet, you will find a shoebox filled with newspaper clippings on everything and anything about paranormal incidents from all over the world. With each clipping she hoped she would be able to find Ana Sophia but all of them were dead ends. No one knew, not even Evan. This is a family matter. Eventually Mia _was_ going to tell her brothers. Guess the cat's out of the bag.

"Mia, what's going on?" Tulio asks.

"Why is Zatanna searching for Ana Sophia?"

She ignores both questions. "Can you help Z?"

'I would but I've got my own stuff to deal with. There's someone I know who can help but I'm not sure if he would.'

"I'm sure I'll find a way to persuade him. What's his name?"

'John Constantine. Lives over in Paddington, London.'

"You're the best Zatanna. Tell Dick I said thanks," she smiles knowing that Dick would be the one to call Zatanna about this.

'Will do Mia. Good luck,' Zatanna hangs up.

Mia looks at her brothers with a smirk. "Ready to go on a family excursion to England?"

 _ **Paddington, London**_

 _ **February 25, 01:55 BST**_

The Ramires siblings arrive at their destination a few minutes before two in the morning.

* * *

They cut dinner short explaining a sudden family emergency came up and they had to go. Tony and Abby seem to understand so they kiss their boyfriends and leave. Evan knows it isn't a typical "family emergency." Before he even gets the chance to ask, Mia answers his unspoken question.

"We're getting her back no matter what."

He nods. The couple press their foreheads together. Him silently asking her to be safe and come back home alive. Her promising that they'll be right back.

* * *

Mia looks down at the note with Constantine's address to make sure they're in the right neighborhood. The siblings were dressed in civilian clothes to blend in with the crowd. She wears a light black long-sleeved shirt with two jackets: a hooded jacket and a rain jacket, skinny jeans and navy-blue Converse.

Miguel wears a beanie, blue shirt, rain jacket, jeans and dark red Converse. Tulio has his non-prescription glasses on, pressed dress shirt, slacks and a nice pair of loafers. But underneath their clothes, they have their suits on in case they need to spring into action.

Miguel decides to taunt his brother. "Why are you wearing that? You look like some old British dude."

"I'm trying to appear that I live here," he glances at his brother's threads, "At least I look sophisticated and not a hoodlum like you."

Miguel growls. "Wanna go?"

He gets into a fighting stance. Tulio goes into the same stance.

"Bring it."

Before either of them moves a muscle, Mia grabs onto their ears and pinches hard.

"Knock if off before I take you both down. I don't want to explain to Tony and Abby how you two ended up in full body casts. Do I make myself clear?"

"Si," Tulio winces.

"Just let go hermana. It hurts."

Mia does. The boys gently rub their ears. Once again Mia reads the address then huffs in annoyance. "It has to be here. This is the right address." She looks around. "So, where the hell is his house?!"

Suddenly Mia stiffens as she feels someone's watching them. Looking down one side of the street and then the other, she finds no one. _"I must be imagining things."_ Mia instantly regrets the thought when something grabs her from behind, pulling her into its chest.

"Hey! Let me go!"

"Mia!" the boys yell.

They turn to see who grabbed her and are having a hard time deciphering if the thing that captured their sister is human or not. The creature towers over them at seven feet with skin as red as blood, lean yet muscular, razor sharp claws, fangs and pure black eyes. One arm secured around Mia's waist and the other poised to slice her throat in one swift motion.

"You're welcome to help any time now," Mia states calmly even though she's internally panicking. _"I refuse to die before I get my family back together and marry Evan."_

Before any of them moved, a six-foot blond hair blue eyed man in a suit and trench coat comse into their line of view. He starts walking closer to them. That's when Mia notices he's smoking. " _He must be Constantine."_ When Mia got his address, Zatanna informs her the man smokes.

He stands silently in front of the group taking in the situation. Constantine discards his cigarette then places both hands into the pockets of the trench coat.

"Is there a problem here lads?" his British accent thick.

The creature hisses at him. "Consssstantine."

"Ah hello there Dagon. Didn't seem to recognize you in that form," his eyes fell on Mia, "You alright there, love?"

"Peachy," Mia deadpans.

"Righty then. Dagon if you wouldn't mind releasing her, I'll let this little incident slide."

"No, I caught her. I did not deviate from the rules."

Constantine shakes his head. "Oh Dagon. You should know better than going after a Fuentes."

As if realization hit him, Dagon quickly releases Mia. He gets a good look at her then the boys. His pure black eyes seem to become lighter like he's terrified. Not saying a word, Dagon vanishes in a puff of smoke. The boys sigh in relief. Mia, still a little shaken up, faces Constantine confusion all over her face.

He smirks. "I've heard you three were looking for me."

"Yeah, we need help finding someone," Miguel says.

"Sorry. If you need to find someone, call the cops."

Constantine turns to walk away from the trio. Before he even takes a step, Mia appears in front of him glaring daggers. He involuntarily swallows the lump forming in his throat. _"I've got the feeling I won't be able to deny her request."_

"I've got a few things to ask you but as of right now you _will_ listen to what I have to say," leaning his weight to one leg, he motioned for her to continue, "Like my brother said we need help finding someone. Our little sister Ana Sophia Celestia Fuentes Ramires. You might know her as the Countess of Chaos."

Constantine visibly stiffens. A curtain of silence falls over them. No one says a word until Constantine breaks it.

"Follow me."

"Why?" Mia demands.

"Better to talk these things in private don't you think?"

He starts walking. With no other option, the siblings follow Constantine to God knows where.


	10. Family Origins

**Disclaimer: I do not own YJ, they belong to DC. I own my OCs!**

 _ **House of Mystery**_

 _ **February 25, 02:37 UTC +1**_

When the four of them safely enter the House, Constantine takes them to the lounge. He pours himself a cup then looks to the siblings.

"Care to join?"

Miguel and Tulio are on edge. Mia, on the other hand, takes his offer.

"You got Teerenpeli 10 year old single malt?"

He smiles. "I'll pour another glass."

After he does, the two clink their cups and drink the whiskey. Constantine takes his time drinking his. Mia downs it like it's a shot of vodka.

" _I don't have time to play games."_ "Talk."

"About?"

Mia growls.

Tulio decides to intervene, "First of all. What was that creature?"

"Dagon, a demon from one of the higher levels of Hell. Next question."

Miguel goes. "What did you mean when you told him he "should know better than to go after a Fuentes"? How did you even know who we were?"

"Those, my lad, are good questions," Constantine takes a seat in one of the lounge chairs and crosses one leg over the other. "You might want to sit down for this."

Reluctantly the siblings sit across from him but stay near each other in case they have to defend themselves.

Constantine begins with a question. "Your grandfather on your mother's side was Pedro Fuentes was he not?"

"Yes," Mia answers.

"I take you're the eldest daughter."

"I am," she eyes him suspiciously. "So what?" _"What's he up to?"_

"And the second daughter would be Countess from what I can tell."

"What does any of this have to do with finding her?" Mia growls.

A random book from the shelf floats over to Mia and lands on her lap. It opens itself up to show a page with a bunch of names.

"It's a page with a bunch of random people's names. What's the purpose?"

"It's a genealogy tree of the entire Fuentes Family line dating back centuries," he states.

Tulio notes the serious tone in Constantine's voice.

He carefully says. "There are a number of people with the same last name. It doesn't mean it's our family line."

"All of you are born from one Carmen Natalia Ruiz Fuentes, daughter of Pedro Antonio Duarte Fuentes and Maria Consuela Hernandez Ruiz." He points at Tulio. "Your mother gave her father's name as your middle name because you're exactly like him. The two of you calculate outcomes before heading in blindly."

Tulio's stunned. "H-How did you—"

"To answer the second question, your names are on the list as the current Fuentes of this generation. Also your mother has told me about all of you."

All three of them are utterly stunned. None says a word. How could they? They just learned their mother had been in contact with Constantine for who knows how long. A couple of years? Decades? These questions need to be answered.

Judging from the silence, Constantine finally explains. "You see, all of you come from a long line of powerful magicians and sorcerers. Each of you have magic running through your veins so you could continue the family line. You're either born as a Fuentes or married into the family. Now normally when a child is the first born, he or she would be the most powerful in that new generation. However, that's not the case with your family. In your family, the second child of the same gender as the first born will be the one to have a natural affinity with magic. Any questions?"

The question at the end makes the situation feel as if Constantine is the professor at a university teaching Organic Chemistry to three students who are majoring in Art. It appears everything he said should make sense to them. The trio just stare at him like _What are you even saying?_ He continues as if nothing is wrong.

"When was your sister born?"

Mia blinks. "Uh…" She clears her throat. "October 31, 2000."

His eyes narrow ever so slightly. "What time was she born?"

"A minute after midnight."

"Do you remember what phase the moon was in?"

"How the bloody hell should I know? I was six when she was born. I wasn't particularly concerned about the phase of the moon," Mia exclaims.

Constantine stands up. He walks over to the shelf muttering to himself. Finally finding the book he needs, Constantine flips through the pages until he comes upon the page he needs.

"Bullocks." _"She was born during the New Moon."_

"What?" all three ask.

Snapping the book shut, he turns to the siblings with grave news. "It's impossible to save your sister. Give up and forget about her. My advice, pray to whatever gods you believe in she won't come after you."

"Excuse me?" Mia hands the book over to her brothers.

Miguel, curious to see who else was in their family, begins to read the page. Tulio keeps an eye on Mia and Constantine while the other skims the page. It shows the family going back centuries all the way to the time when Rome had conquered the world. _"That's interesting,"_ Tulio thought as he places his attention on the book but keeping his ears open for any confrontation from Constantine.

While they're reading the page, Mia confronts Constantine. "I know you didn't just say to give up and forgetting about my sister."

"I did in fact."

"I was told you can help us."

"Well whoever told you was mistaken."

She gets right in his face. "Listen here ya bloody tosser. I didn't spend the last five years researching and saving newspaper clippings about paranormal shit just to be told by some knob head to give up before actually starting. Hear me when I say this," she stares into his eyes with a murderous gaze, "You will help us get our sister back or so help me you're gonna wish that Dagon took me before I'm finished with you. Am I understood ya wanker?"

He's silent. Constantine takes in her appearance and words. _"She really is a Fuentes, they always threaten people when a family member is in danger. This girl is definitely Carmen's daughter. Looks like her too with those giant chocolate doe brown eyes. I swear these Fuentes' will be the death of me."_ A thought occurs to him. Thinking over the amount of British insults Mia just said, the way she said them plus her choice in whiskey makes him smirk.

"You know Daniel, don't you?" She raises a brow clearly confused by his statement. "Daniel. Daniel Buckley, the psychic living in Crown Heights, New York."

Mia takes a step back. "How do you know Danny?"

"We've gotten a few pints together every now and then," realization hits him like a slap to the face, "You're the special cases. All three of you." _"If their alter egos are that dangerous, why keep them alive? What have you gotten yourself into Daniel?"_

Hearing Daniel's name being spoken, the Twins look up from the book. Tulio narrows his eyes at Constantine. Miguel tilts his head in confusion.

"What do you mean "special cases"?" he asks.

He waves the question away. "Never mind that," he clears his throat, "Seeing as how there's no way I could ever say no to you, we should go save your sister before she ends up destroying reality as we know it."


	11. Countess of Chaos

**Disclaimer: I do not own YJ, they belong to DC. I own my OCs.**

 _ **House of Mystery**_

 _ **February 25, 02:43 UTC +1**_

The trio stare at him like he lost his marbles. Out of the three of them, Miguel's the first to speak.

"What do you mean "destroying reality"?"

"Sounds exactly what it means. Your sister plans on ripping reality in half…for fun."

"This is all my fault," all eyes turned to Mia, "If I hadn't defied Ra's none of this would've happened. If only I had followed through with the match then maybe—"

"Bite your tongue," Tulio growles.

Mia flinches at her brother's tone. She looks over to see determination burning in his eyes yet he's scowling at her.

"Don't you dare go down that rabbit hole. Mia, if you had followed Ra's al Ghul's order then you wouldn't be here with us. We wouldn't be part of the Team or be in relationships. You would be an assassin following your orders down to a "T". Evan wouldn't be in your life, the Allens, Wally, Dick and the others. None of this wouldn't have been possible if you hadn't defied the Demon."

"But Tulio—"

"He's right hermana," she looks over at Miguel, "Not all of this is your fault. We're to blame as well. Please don't add any more weight onto your shoulders, you have too much as it is."

"Miguel," tears of joy swell in her eyes.

The siblings have a moment and it's touching. In fact, it's so sweet Constantine can practically feel his blood sugar spike.

" _The one thing you can count on the Fuentes family is their loyalty to their friends and family."_ "This is sweet and all but I suggest we get a move on before we all die," Constantine cuts in.

"Zatanna said that Ana might be somewhere in Ireland but she couldn't get an exact location," Mia states.

"Lucky for you three, we're already there."

"Say what?"

He leads them back to the front door. The door opens itself to reveal the ancient site of Knowth.

 _ **Dogheda**_

 _ **February 25, 02:45 IST**_

They exit the House. When the door closes, the House disappears.

"Where'd it go?" Miguel wonders.

"Everywhere and nowhere," Constantine answers.

"That's real helpful."

"It's in a pocket dimension. Stays hidden from prying eyes," he muses.

"What is this place?" Tulio scans their new surroundings.

They stand in front of a giant hill-like dome covered in grass. The structure's made of stone with only one entrance. Even without magic, the trio feel this place seems off as each of them notice how eerily silent the area is.

"Welcome to Knowth, one of Ireland's many ancient sites. The blokes who built this were tracking the Lunar Phases. Knowth is older than the pyramids, much older. Not much is known about it only when the time of the Equinoxes comes around this place surges with magic," Constantine explains.

"And Ana would be here because…"

"Since your sister has been under Klarion's teachings for the past eight years, she's become very powerful in dark magic. With Klarion as a Lord of Chaos, Countess is able to manipulate reality as well just not as powerful as Klarion. However she might be stronger than Klarion himself in spells and rituals."

"So how do we stop her?" determination coursing through Mia's veins.

"You can't. The only way that she can stop is if you get her to break the oath she made with him."

"And how do we do that?" Miguel chimes in.

A natural down to Earth smile graces Constantine's face. "Remind her that you're her family."

Out of nowhere, the ground begins to shake. All eyes turn to the site. Without a word, Mia grabs Constantine's arm and the boys hold onto her as she teleports them inside. The inside of the dome is somewhat spacious with enough room to fit ten people. At the center of the room is a diagram of the Lunar Phases.

Within the center of the diagram stands a young girl with a height of 5'6, hair black as a starless night reaching down to her waist. She wears a strapless black cocktail dress stopping at the knees with three-inch heels on. Everything about her radiates power and darkness, silently ordering her foes to fear her. The siblings know better, this young girl who's trying to become an adult is none other than Ana Sophia.

"Ana," Mia gasps.

Hearing her name, Ana turns around to see who called. Her eyes widen with shock as she looks at them.

"Mami? Papi?" she quietly asks.

Mia blinks in surprise. The Twins give each other worried looks. _"Why would she call us that?"_ Mia glances over to her brothers. She sees Miguel standing behind Tulio which means Ana hasn't seen him. _"They are the spitting image of Papi and people on the island always told me that I looked exactly like Mami. I can see where she might get confused."_

"Ana," she looks at Mia. "I'm not Mami. It's me, Amelia."

"And we're not Papi," Miguel says as he stands next to his brother.

Her eyes refocus and finally notice her siblings plus Constantine.

"Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in. If it isn't my big sister who abandoned me and my older brothers back from the dead," Ana Sophia states smugly.

"I didn't abandon you!"

"And we were never dead!"

She scoffs. "Whatever," she looks at Constantine seductively, "Johnathon."

Constantine shoves his hands into the trench coat's pockets, "Countess."

"Are you here to make my night again?"

"This is more business than pleasure."

Something clicks within Mia. She looks back and forth between them as realization washes over her.

" _He didn't—"_ "You two had sex?!"

Constantine turns his gaze towards a wall. Ana Sophia cadn't stop the smug look on her face.

"I've got to say, Johnathon truly knows how to give a woman a good time in bed. Where was it again?" She taps her chin. "Ah yes. I believe it was in Greece inside the Parthenon. The stars were shinning brightly that night."

"Ok! We don't need to hear anymore," Miguel states. _"I really don't need to hear this."_

Mia glares at Constantine. "You…you wanker of a tosser! H-How could you have sex with a minor?! She's only 15 for God's sake."

"Actually I'm 18," Ana states as a matter of fact.

The siblings stare wide-eyed at the youngest member of the family.

"What?" Mia murmurs.

"That can't be possible. You're younger than us by five years," Tulio states.

"Each of us held you in our arms when you were a baby. You can't be 18 already," Miguel notes.

She shrugs. "Time flows a bit faster back home."

It takes them a second to realize the meaning of home to her is with Klarion. Every fiber in Mia's body restrains the tears even though she can feel them building up inside her.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I would like to finish destroying reality."

Flicking her wrist, the four of them are thrown back into the wall. They try to move but are stuck.

"Yats ereht kcuts ot eht llaw," she chants.

Turning her attention back to the ritual, Ana Sophia extends her arms out and slowly begins to float while chanting a spell in the language of the Druids. Constantine instantly knows what she's saying. _"Bloody hell."_ Glancing to his right, he spots the Ramires siblings struggling against the spell.

" _You better stop her or we're done for."_ "Esaeler!"

The trio are freed but not Constantine. In confusion, Mia looks over at him with a look of _What are you doing?_

Constantine smirks. "I agreed to help find her, not fight her. Besides love, this was never my fight to begin with," it morphs into a natural smile, "Now go get your sister back."

Tears of joy trickle down her cheeks. Mia swiftly wipes them away then straightens her back as her eyes shine with determination.

"Once this is over, we're going to have a talk Constantine," she turned to her brothers. "Let's go!"

And they leave him alone. Constantine has never been so scared for his life until now. Although Mia's comment sounds innocent, there's the underlying tone warning him he won't survive to see sunrise.

"Damn these Fuentes kids," he nervously chuckles.

They struggle to reach the center. The wind picks up and starts to form a sort of protective barrier around the caster.

"Ana Sophia!" Mia shouts over the sound of the wind.

Looking down, she sees her siblings struggling to reach her.

"You don't know when to give up do you? Give it a rest already. You've done nothing but cause me grief and misery. Leave me alone before I kill you!"

Mia stops in her tracks. _"She's right. I haven't done her any good. Why am I still pursuing her anyway?"_ The words of Kent Nelson before he died echoed in her mind.

"What happened, happened. You cannot dwell on the past forever. Be free Mia and bring your siblings to the path of good."

A soft smile appears on her face. _"Thanks for the confidence boost Mr. Nelson. If you see my parents, tell them I will do my best to make us a family again."_ Lifting her head, she locks eyes with the younger girl.

"You know how we Ramires' are, too stubborn and hardheaded for our own good. Now stop being a spoiled brat and end the ritual before it's too late."

Ana Sophia scoffs. "What gives you the right to boss me around? You have no authority over me."

"I'm in charge since I'm the oldest. I mean, I could always get our parents. Oh wait," she looks around then back to Ana, "They're dead."

"No, they're not. They left us just like you did all those years ago."

"Who told you that load of crap?"

"Klarion."

" _Of course, he did."_ "He lied. They're dead."

"Lies."

"If you think I'm still lying, look into my memories of Papi's death," Mia challenges.

"I will!"

Even though Mia's mind is protected by a barrier designed to repel any psychics from entering, it can't stop magic. Ana Sophia chants a spell then a cloud appears over Mia's head. It begins to show, from her point of view, Luis' death. The boys know their father died when they were younger but never knew the details about it.

Watching their father's dead body hitting the ground brings tears to their eyes. Tears built up in Ana Sophia's eyes but she blinks them away. Mia's face holds no expression but her eyes shine with unshed tears.

Ana clears her throat. "You...you could've made it up."

Mia opens her mouth to speak but Miguel interrupts.

"Are you kidding me?! There's no way in hell that Mia made this up. You know, it happened right before you were born. When Mami heard about his death, it sent her into labor. Eventually you were born. What I want to know is why you would even think that a six year old girl can imagine her father's death for fun?!"

He glares at his younger sister with burning rage. The tone in his voice makes her flinch.

Ana Sophia straightens her back. "Fine. I will admit that Papi is dead but that bitch we called our mother was—"

"DON'T—" this time all eyes turn to Tulio, who's shaking with pure rage. "You ever call our mother a bitch again or else."

"Or else what?" she challenges her older brother.

"Or else I'll end up doing something that'll hurt me more than it'll hurt you. Now cast that spell again to look at our memories of mother's death. You will watch and you will be quiet."

Reluctantly she did. A cloud appears over each of the Twins' heads. All three show the fire burning their house. From Miguel's view, he only saw the fire as tears ran down his cheeks. Tulio saw two figures in the kitchen window and tries running over there but one of the neighbor's held him back.

He yelled. "There's someone else in the house! They probably started the fire."

"There's no one else in there Tulio."

"But—"

Then the fire completely engulfs the house and a scream was heard over the roar of the fire.

In Mia's cloud, she hears a familiar annoying nasally voice complaining then she sees her mother's face one last time before the fire consumed her. Carmen appeared to be at peace when she laid eyes on Mia. She smiled mouthing, "Te amo Amelia. Take care of them."

The memory clouds disappear. A curtain of silence comes down on them. Tears begin free falling down the older siblings' faces yet they stand tall. Ana Sophia's in a state of shock. Slowly she begins floating back down. Once her feet touch the ground, her knees buckle and falls flat on her butt.

Constantine, who didn't open his mouth once, witnesses the memories too. He's surprised to learn all of them had been traumatized at such young ages. Looking over at Mia, he now understands why Daniel is helping her. _"This woman witnessed the cold-blooded murders of her parents and taken upon herself the responsibility of caring for her siblings at such a young age. She could've gone down a dark hole and become something else but she didn't. Amelia Rosa Fuentes Ramires is the strongest woman I've ever met and I'm glad I did._ " Constantine smiles.

"Now that you know the truth…" Tulio starts.

"What are you going to do about it?" Miguel finishes.

Now the ritual's incomplete, the wind becomes nothing more than a gentle breeze before stopping completely. The trio finally reach the center of the diagram where their baby sister sits with eyes as big as dinner plates. Mia gets down on her knees and gently pulls Ana Sophia into her arms. She begins to softly run her fingers through Ana's hair like she did when they were younger. Taking a deep breath, Mia opens her mouth and begins singing Carmen's lullaby.

~ "A la nanita nana nanita ella, nanita ella

Mi niña tiene sueño bendito sea, bendito sea.

A la nanita nana nanita ella, nanita ella

Mi niña tiene sueño bendito sea, bendito sea.

Fuentecita que corre clara y Sonora

Ruisenor que en la selva cantando llora

Calla mientras la cuna se balansea

A la nanita nana, nanita ella.

A la nanita nana nanita ella, nanita ela

Mi niña tiene sueño bendito sea, bendito sea.

Fuentecita que corre clara y Sonora

Ruisenor que en la selva cantando llora

Calla mientras la cuna se balansea

A la nanita nana, nanita ella." ~

Once the lullaby finishes, the only sound that can be heard inside the dome are the cries from one Ana Sophia Celestia Fuentes Ramires. She had no idea how long she yearned to hear Carmen's lullaby again.

These past few years hasn't been all rainbows and sunshine for her. Klarion never cared about her, only her powers. Although she was a natural, Ana Sophia had been mentally abused by the Lord of Chaos. Sometimes she wouldn't eat for days all because he would forget. Ana Sophia quickly learned that the only way to get what she wanted was to follow Klarion's example and act like him.

Once she did, he began treating her "better" but he still mentally abused her by showing false images of everyone leaving her and telling lies that they never cared about her well being. The Lord of Chaos reminded Ana every single day for the past eight years and slowly she came to believe that everything he's said was true. When she was at her lowest, Ana made the oath to Klarion proclaiming that she'll be forever by his side. Luckily there's a loophole; if she has come to see the error of her ways the oath becomes null and void.

Still crying in her sister's arms, Ana hugs Mia for dear life. The boys join in and it becomes a family group hug. Each of them happy and relieved their family is back together. After a few more minutes of hugging, Ana frees herself. Standing and taking a few steps back, she breaks off the amulet on her dress and smashes it onto the pavement.

Raising her head, she loudly proclaims, "I will no longer be on the Lord of Chaos' side for I have seen the mistake I made. With this proclamation, I am now free from his grasp."

A wave of energy bursts out from the amulet then silence envelopes the dome. Minutes pass as everyone waits for something to happen but nothing did. The trio stand back up on their feet and smile proudly at the youngest member of the family. They're having a moment then Constantine has to ruin it.

"I hate to intrude on such a lovely family moment but would you mind letting me down?"

"Ugh. Fine" Ana snaps her fingers and he was free.

"Thanks pet," Constantine straightens himself up. "Now that's all settled, I'll be taking my leave."

He takes one step then Mia instantly appears before him. She has her arms crossed against her chest and foot tapping in annoyance. Her eyes change color from brown doe eyes to pure black like Dagon's. If looks can kill, Constantine has already died a million deaths. Eyes that once held compassion, joy and love now holds malice and rage. Constantine can't even move a muscle because of Mia's arctic cold gaze.

"And where do you think you're going? We still need to have that talk."


	12. Bloodlines

**Disclaimer: I do not own YJ, they belong to DC. I own my OCs!**

A man wearing prison garb and an inhibitor collar walks over to a young boy working on some machinery.

"How's it coming?"

"Almost finished."

"Wish I could go along."

"Sorry," he turns around to face the man, "Only seats one."

The young boy pulls out an incredibly outdated smart phone from his pocket. After a few tries, he finally gets the only video on the phone to play.

A man in his early 20s was singing and dancing in the kitchen while making pancakes.

~ 'She wants to dance like Uma Thurman bury me til I confess.

She wants to dance like Uma Thurman and I can't get you out of my head.

I can move mountains. I can work a miracle, work a miracle.

Oh, oh

I keep you like an oath

May nothing but death do us part' ~

The video changes to a different scene of the same man hugging a woman in her early 20s from behind.

'So Ev, want to say anything to the people who's watching this in the future?' she smiles.

He stares into the camera smiling. 'Find someone you want to spend the rest of your life with. It doesn't matter who you love, just love them for who they are. On a side note, I would like to apologize for my troublemaker of a wife.'

'I have _never_ been a troublemaker in my life!'

'Oh yeah?' he challenges.

'Yeah.'

'Then explain to me why you started a bar brawl while we were in England?'

The young man softly mumbles along, "He had it coming. No one disses Manchester United in front of my face unless they want a brawl."

'See what I mean?'

'Whatever you say honey.'

The young man pauses the video. He stares longingly at the couple in the video as sorrow begins to bubble within him. _"I wish we had more time together."_

 _ **Mount Justice**_

 _ **February 28, 10:07 EST**_

"Decryption completed. Translation completed," the computer announces.

Nightwing goes over the intel with Mia as Tim and Garfield arrive.

"Is that the Krolotean intel?" Tim asks.

"What Krolotean intel?" Garfield wonders.

Mia smiles. "Sure is."

She walks over to the boys and gives each of them a kiss on the cheek.

"Hi guys."

"Hi Mia," they said.

"The data files M'gann and J'onn recovered on Malina Island before it was destroyed," Nightwing gravely states.

"Well, noted," Garfield adds.

"Apparently, the Kroloteans were snatching humans to use as guinea pigs."

"What?" Mia states.

"They were hoping to find something. Something inside us."

"What?" Tim wonders.

"There's no English word for it. The nearest translation is meta-gene."

"What's a meta-gene?"

"Never met a gene I didn't like," Garfield jokes.

Mia snorts. She quickly covers her mouth with her hand and ruffles Garfield's hair with the other.

"Warning. Unknown energy impulse detected," the computer warns.

Lightning strikes the mountain outside. Inside, all of them turn to see what's arriving. Soon a ball of electricity appears before them. Nightwing and Mia stand in front of the boys since they have more experience.

" _What the hell is that?"_ Mia thought.

Her question is somewhat answered when a pod looking machine lands in front of them. As the door unlocks, everyone gets into their stances.

"Stand ready," Nightwing orders.

The door opens and out comes a boy in a red and white one-piece suit and goggles with auburn hair saying, "Ta-da!"

"Intruder alert. Intruder alert."

"What the hell—" Mia starts.

"Computer, lock down Cave," Nightwing orders.

"Well, I think we found our unknown energy impulse," Garfield notes.

"Impulse? That's so crash. Catchy, dramatic, one word," soon he began speeding around, "Like Nightwing and Robin and Beast Boy. Except that's two words. Blue Beetle's two words. Hey, is he here, too?"

Before he speeds off, Mia grabs his shoulder forcing him to turn around. She takes off her cowl and smiles softly at the boy. He stands there shocked to see her _. "Tia Amelia, you're alive,"_ he thought as he continues to stare at her.

"Easy there mijo. Where's the fire?" she jokes.

He quickly recovers. "No fire, just Blue Beetle. So, where is he?" he escapes from Mia, "Never mind! Impulse can find that out for himself."

He laughs and speeds away.

"You two, take him down. Now," Nightwing states.

As Tim and Garfield go after Impulse, Mia and Nightwing stare at each other in confusion.

"We're crash?"

"Don't look at me. You're the one who had the crazy slang words back then. Aren't you feeling traught yet?" she smirks.

He chuckles. "Come on, let's get ready. He'll come back here and we need to be on guard."

"You got it." _"That kid looks a little bit like Dad."_

* * *

Impulse arrives in the showers.

"Whoa. Old style faucets. So retro."

He quickly turns on the showers and leaves. Poor Garfield runs in but couldn't stop. He slips and bangs his head on the tile wall.

Impulse searches the kitchen when Tim appears. Bo staff in hand, Tim swings at Impulse who dodges it by doing the limbo.

"Limbo time."

He manages to escape leaving behind a very confused Tim. As he makes his way back to the Mission Room, marbles are cast onto the floor so the speedster will slip. Impulse easily evades them and arrives in one piece.

"Ha ha! Can't catch me that easy. Uhh!"

Before running, Impulse gets decked by Nightwing. He falls to the floor. Nightwing quickly places him in cuffs and cuffs his ankles.

"You know those won't work on him Nightwing," he glances at Mia shrugging, "I swear you better have another way."

"Oh…" Impulse groans.

"Now, that was crash."

"For you maybe. Me, I'm totally feeling the mode."

Mia feels sorry for Impulse. Not knowing what else to do, she kneels down and hugs him.

"You're going to be just fine," she whispers in his ear.

Impulse can't believe she's hugging him. The last time he got a hug from her was before she died fighting.

"Tia," he barely speaks above a whisper.

No one hears him.

 _ **Tibet**_

 _ **February 28, 23:14 BT**_

"I still don't buy it, Chesh. It's too easy. The good guys have been looking for the real Roy Harper for years. Then suddenly you just—"

"I go to places the good guys don't. And stop calling him the real Roy Harper. You may be his clone, but I need you to be real. Our daughter needs you to be real"

Roy walks over to Jade's backpack. He opens the flap and sees his little girl laughing and smiling. A smile appears on his face.

"You can't be the father Lian deserves until you get your original Roy guilt out of your system, so let's get it done." Jade turns to look at him. "Assuming you're up for it."

As they head for the monastery, a thought occurs to Jade.

" _I wonder if she knows."_ "Red."

"Yeah?"

"Does she know?"

"Does who know what?"

"Labiwa."

He stops and looks at his wife. "Who?"

Jade sighs. "Mia."

"What about her?"

"Does she know about us? About Lian?"

"No."

"Oh. Well I guess I should inform her then," Jade muses.

"Don't," Roy sighs. "I'll do it."

Even though they've broken up years ago, he still loves her; she's his first love after all. Roy was a mess when Mia left him and his obsession with find the original Roy made his situation worse. _"It's better if she finds out from me than Jade,"_ Roy thought as they continue making their way towards the monastery.

* * *

Back at the Cave, the trio begin to question Impulse.

"You're a tourist from the future?" Tim asks.

"Why so surprised? Half the meat at Comic Con are from my era," Impulse answers.

Mia eyes him suspiciously. "Why do I get the feeling that you're lying?" _"What does he mean by meat?"_

He glances at Mia then turns his attention back to Tim and Garfield completely ignoring the accusation.

"Look, look, look. Guys, we should all be friends. I'm really one of you, part of the heroic legacy, right? My name's Bart Allen. You know, grandson of Barry Allen, the Flash."

Mia's eyes widen as she whispers, "Oh my god." _"He_ is _an Allen. He's got the same smile as Dad. Holy shit, I have a nephew."_

"Noted. Not believed, but noted," Garfield crosses his arms.

"What's not to believe? I've clearly got Flash's speed, his amazing good looks. Frankly, I can't wait to meet him. You know, back when he was in his prime."

"I'm sure Dad would be glad to meet you Bart," Mia softly smiles.

His head perks up and looks at her.

"Th-Thanks," Bart clears his throat. "So, where's JJ?" _"He must be one by now."_

"Who's JJ?" Mia asks.

"You know, yo—" Bart stops mid-sentence. _"If she doesn't know who he is then he isn't born yet and I can't say anything about it or else he might disappear from the time stream."_

Before she can push further, Nightwing appears with a glass of water.

"Well, Bart, coming all the way from the future, you must have worked up quite a thirst."

"Thanks," he slurps. "Oh, ah, you're trying to get a DNA sample. You need my spit," he spits into the cup, "Ha. That's such a Dick Grayson thing to do."

"Did you just…" Mia says pointing at him.

Tim's shocked too. "How did—"

"See, I know stuff only a future boy would know. Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Garfield Logan and my coolest aunt in the world, Amelia Rosa Fuentes Ramires West-Allen O'Brian."

Garfield looks between Tim and Dick. "Your name's Tim? And yours is Dick?" he looks over at Mia, "You're an aunt?"

Tim looks embarrassed. Dick appears to be fine. Mia's still processing the idea about her being an aunt.

"Oops. Spoilers. This secret identity thing is so retro. I mean, you can call me Impulse or Bart or Bart Allen or Bart Impulse Allen. It's all crash."

"Is it possible he might actually be telling the truth?" Tim asks Dick. "Could he really be from the future?"

Garfield confronts Bart. "Tell us something we don't know yet. When do I become leader of the Team? When do I join the Justice League? When do I get my own reality series?"

"Sorry, BB, never was the best history student. Besides, we can't risk altering the time stream. We do that, we're all feeling the mode."

"And the mode would be bad?"

"Doesn't get any worse. Always better to crash the mode."

"Uh, noted?"

"Now wait a second," Mia starts. "You said you can't reveal anything from the future without moding the time stream, right? Yet you came from the future to this time period and already outed our secret identities. With you being here at this very moment, the time stream has already begun to change. Your arrival is like dropping a pebble into a puddle; the ripple starts off small but eventually they begin to grow and will cause a major change in the future for better or worse. That being said, won't we feel the mode sooner rather than later?"

The guys stare at her in disbelief. They can't believe she actually understands what Bart explained _plus_ she even comes up with a response. Tilting her head to the side, she gives them a look like _What's wrong?_ When none of them spoke, she shrugs like it's not a big deal.

"I've been reading up on physics and the idea of time traveling ever since I sneaked into a physics class at the local university. It piqued my interest. I _do_ have other hobbies besides painting you know."

Bart smirks. "And that's why you're the coolest aunt ever."

"Recognized: Malcolm Duncan, A10."

"Ooh, sounds like a door opening somewhere. And that's my cue," Bart escapes by vibrating through his cuffs.

He stands up. "Bye-bye."

Bart races towards the front entrance of the Cave before anyone could grab him. Mal drives in on his motorcycle and stops to see Bart leaving.

"Hi, Mal. Bye, Mal."

" _And he's gone,"_ Mia rubs her temple.

"Don't worry, the peregrine falcon is the world's fastest bird. He won't get away," Garfield proclaims as he chases after Bart.

"Doesn't stand a chance, does he?" Tim asks.

"Nope. Impulse is too fast. But at least we can track him," Dick answers as he looks at the monitor tracking Bart's movement.

"You planted a tracer? It'll fall off at his speed."

"It won't. He drank it."

Tim lifts the cup. "Subcutaneous micro tracker in the water. Nice."

"Thanks. He's making a beeline for Central City," Dick pulls out his phone and calls someone. "Hey, need your help."

"Welp, I better go intercept him. I'll catch you guys later," Mia mutters.

She heads out through the front entrance passing Mal.

"Big M, what's the deal?"

Mia sighs. "Too much. Nightwing'll inform you. See ya Mal."

She teleports to Central City.

 _ **Central City**_

 _ **February 28, 12:03 CST**_

"Happy anniversary!"

"Barry, you and Iris never forget."

"You kidding, Jay? We idolize you two. 70 years of marriage is quite the achievement."

"The achievement is how Joan's put up with me for that long," Jay kisses Joan's cheek.

Suddenly, Mia appears with Miguel and Tulio. The trio turn to the Garricks with smiles on their faces.

"Feliz aniversario!" they cheer.

"There's our grandkids," Jay chuckles.

The couple hugs each of them tightly and kisses their cheeks. The Twins start talking to their "grandparents" about what's going on in their lives while Mia looks around.

Iris is the first to notice. "Is everything ok sweetie?"

"Did anyone else arrive Mom?"

"No, just you and your brothers. Wally should be arriving soon though. Why? What's going on?"

"Well, you see—"

Barry's phone starts to ring. "Just a sec," he answers it, "Barry Allen. What kind of Impulse? Another speedster? He says he's my what?"

Bart comes into the house and stands before Barry. "Your grandson. Ha! Bart Allen, aka Impulse, and I'm your grandson from the future. Pretty crash, huh?"

Iris gives a stern look at Mia.

She sheepishly laughs. "Surprise."

"Amelia Rosa Fuentes Ramires West-Allen, you better explain yourself," Iris crosses her arms.

Before she can respond, Bart brings the attention back over to himself.

He gives Barry a bear hug. "I've always dreamed of doing this," he releases Barry, "I mean, when you were young and I didn't have to worry about breaking you, Gramps."

Bart speeds over to Iris and Mia.

"Hey, Grandma. Love you, too," he hugs her then Mia. "Auntie!"

"Who's the kid?" Miguel asks.

"And what's he babbling about?" Tulio complains.

Bart looks at them and stands there for a second in appreciation. _"Tio Miguel, Tio Tulio you guys are alive too."_ Without warning, he speeds at them and hugs them for dear life. He tightens the hug ever so slightly and shakes a little.

The shaking isn't caused by his speed but by the overwhelming emotion that's churning within him at the sight of his aunt and uncles being alive. No one but the trio notice thanks to their training. Before either Miguel or Tulio can respond, Bart releases them and heads for the Garricks.

"You must be the Garricks. That makes you, like, my honorary great-grandparents," once again, Bart's hugging people.

Jay looks at Barry in confusion. "Uh, Barry, something you've been meaning to tell us?"

"What? No. This kid is not my grandson, from the future or any…when. Heck, Iris and I don't even have kids," he pauses and looks at Mia with slight widened eyes. "Mia? Are you…um...are you, you know," Barry lets the question up in the air.

Her face becomes beet red.

Mia flusters. "D-Dad! Of course, I'm not pregnant! And if I was, why would I give my child the last name Allen if I'm marrying Evan? For being a CSI, you can be pretty stupid sometimes. I mean look at him," she gestures to Bart. "He's got the same hair color and eye color as Mom, he has the Allen smile and talks as fast as you. Not even Wally can talk that fast. The only way there'll be a redhead on _my_ side of the family is if Tulio gets Abi pregnant…"

Mia pauses to look over at the "responsible" brother. He notices and turns red as a tomato.

"N-No! She's not pregnant! How could you even ask that?!"

"Because I'm your sister and I need to know these kinds of things. I don't want the full details obviously, I just want to know if you guys are using protection."

"I-I'm not going to discuss this with you in front of our family!"

"So, you're denying that you're using protection then," Mia crosses her arms.

"I never said that. Stop twisting my words around!"

"Um, Barry," Iris speaks up.

The attention shifts from Mia and Tulio to Iris.

"What?"

"I'm pregnant."

"What?" he stares at his wife in shock.

"I found out this morning. I was gonna tell you tonight. In private," she scowls at Bart for ruining the surprise.

Mia freezes for a second then as the news washes over her, she cheers loudly. Miguel and Tulio smile and hug their adoptive mother. Bart stands in front of Iris' stomach and waves at it.

"Hi, Dad. Hi, Aunt Dawn."

"Wait, there are two in there?"

"We're having twins?!"

"Oops. Spoilers."

At that point, Mia screams in joy and hugs Iris.

"This is awesome! Don't worry Mom, when the little buggers are born, I'll help you out and so will the boys, right?" she looks over at them waiting for a response.

"Well duh."

"You can count on us."

Iris snaps out of her shock and smiles at them. "Thank you. I want you three to know that just because we're having kids doesn't mean we don't love you any less. Adopted or otherwise, you're our kids and we're your parents no matter what."

"We know," they chorus.

Once Mia calms down, her mood takes a 180 degree turn and is annoyed with Bart.

She quickly slaps the back of his head scolding him, "Stop doing that."

"Careful, kid. If you are what you say you are, revealing too much could crash the whole time stream," Wally states as he walks in the house.

"Crash it. If only."

"Wally, what are you—" Barry says.

Wally cuts him off. "Nightwing called. Thought I might be of some help with this mess. Ugh."

Bart finds another victim to hug. "You're Wally West, my first cousin once removed."

"The operative word being 'removed'," Wally removes Bart.

"So, you hug your future cousin but not me? Ok, I see how it is. Don't come running to me when you forget Art's birthday," Mia huffs and crosses her arms.

Wally just shakes his head. Eventually he walks over to her and hugs her. She hugs him back.

"Is he telling the truth?" Wally whispers.

"So far he is. He did lie about being a tourist though but don't tell Dick, I'll figure this one out," she whispers back.

"Alright."

Another cell phone rings. Thinking it's his, Barry answers it.

"Uh, hello?"

"It's mine babe," Iris states holding her phone.

"Don't answer that," Bart says a bit too quickly. "I mean, why interrupt the reunion?"

Mia slightly narrows her eyes at her nephew. _"Now why didn't you want Mom to answer the phone?"_

"It's my boss at GBS," she answers the phone. "What's up, Pete?" she looks to Barry with worry. "They're evacuating downtown. A new superpower lunatic is calling for blood. Your blood."

Mia's phone buzzes. She checks to see that she got a text from Evan.

" _Stay away from downtown. There's a villain attacking."_

She texts back. _"I know. Pete from GBS just informed Mom. Are you okay?"_

" _I'm fine. I'm helping with the evacuating."_

" _Please for the love of God be careful."_

" _I will. Stay there at Barry's."_

* * *

In downtown, the villain destroys the statue of Flash with energy bolts.

"One Flash down, one to go."

* * *

Back in the house, Barry puts on his suit.

"Oh, come on, Grandpa. Let the League handle this guy. I mean, how often does a relative from the future show up at your door?" Bart inquires.

Mia doesn't respond to Evan's last text and puts away her phone.

She sighs. "I hate to say it but he's right Dad," all eyes turned to her, "Not about the second part but the first part. Maybe you should let the League handle it. I'm sure Hal and Ollie wouldn't mind helping."

Barry sighs in frustration. "Listen, I—" Barry looks to Bart, "I'll deal with you later. Stay put. I'll be back in a flash."

He zooms over to downtown.

"Damn it, Dad," Mia rubs her temple.

"Heh. Back in a flash. Wow. Does he say that often?" Bart wonders.

Everyone sighs. "Too often."

"Try living with him. It gets old pretty quick," Tulio complains.

"Not to mention all the other puns he's used," Miguel adds.

Wally turns to Bart. "You're going, aren't you?"

"Doy," he leaves to help Barry.

Mia sighs. "Looks like I better help before anything bad happens."

"We're going too," Miguel states.

She shakes her head. "No. You two stay here and keep an eye out. We don't know if this villain knows Dad's secret identity and if he does, I'm counting on the two of you to keep this family safe. Okay?"

Miguel wants to say something but Tulio stops him by clasping his shoulder.

He looks to his older sister. "Don't worry about us. Just make sure those two get back home safe."

"You got it Tulio," turning her gaze to Wally, she smiles. "What do you say primo? One more time for old time's sake?"

Wally shrugs. "Sure, why not? But you're helping me with that presentation for my Spanish class."

"Don't worry primo, I'll have you hablando en Español en muy poco tiempo."

"Ai caramba."

Wally lifts Mia up and carries her bridal style out of the house. As they head towards downtown, Mia quickly sends a text to Evan.

" _Can't stay at Barry's. Going to help him and Bart. He's our nephew from the future. I'll explain later. 3."_

Miguel and Tulio get a text from their boss. He wants both of them to get pictures and eye-witness testimonies for the article. They glance at each other nervously. Iris notices.

"You have to go too, don't you?"

"We got texts from Rollins. He wants pictures and testimonies for the upcoming article," Miguel answers.

"Stay out of trouble and don't let Mia catch you two out there. Got it?"

"Yes Mom," they say at the same time.

They kiss her then head out to get the story. Iris watches them leave the house.

"They're going to be okay, right?"

"Of course, Iris. All of them will be home soon enough," Joan smiles.

* * *

Currently in downtown, the villain is making headway leaving destruction in his wake. The citizens of Central City are fleeing the area as they dodge cars being thrown at them. A woman holding her baby gets almost smashed by an inbounding flying car when Barry saves her.

"You're safe now, ma'am. There's a shelter at Fox and Gardner well out of the danger zone. Walk, don't run and you and your little one will be just fine."

When he finishes, Barry heads for the villain. Energy waves are bursting out of the villain causing destruction everywhere. Barry runs at him but gets hit with the energy wave. As he almost hits the ground, Bart arrives and saves him.

"Nice trick."

"Thanks. Dad taught me. He learned it—well, will learn it from you."

"Flash!" They turn their attention to the villain, "Prepare to meet your doom."

He fires at the speedsters but they're too quick. **(A/N: cue rim shot)**

"Heh. What kind of meat is the guy?" Bart states as they dodge another attack, "He's never gonna hit us with those."

"No, but it's a stand-off. He's generating cascading waves of energy. Each wave starts before the previous wave dissipates. There are no gaps at any speed," they hide behind a car, "We can't get close." Barry finally realizes something. "Wait a minute. I told you not to come."

Once again, they speed away from the villain to come up with a strategy.

"I want to see you beat the bad guy in person, in your prime."

Barry raises a brow at his "grandson" and internally sighs. _"If he is my grandson, Bart didn't get sarcasm from me. He might've learned from Mia."_

* * *

With downtown under siege, two individuals lay hidden in a warehouse with alien tech to monitor the battle. They speak in an alien language that sounds like chattering scarabs.

"Test is on-mode. We have complete control over subject Neutron. His meta-gene performs better than expected against the meat."

"Perhaps too well. These energy readings threaten to crash the mode."

* * *

Back in Tibet, the duo is able to infiltrate the monastery successfully. They stop when two guards walk past them. Once the guards leave, Roy and Jade sneak around the halls where they come upon two more guards. The guards underestimate the couple and are easily taken down.

After seeing her parents taking down the guards, Lian thinks it's funny and giggles. Her giggles echo throughout the monastery alerting the other guards. Soon enough Roy and Jade are completely surrounded by guards. Spears pointed at them, ready to take their lives.

"Told you we should have left her with your sister," Roy complains. _"Or at least with Mia."_

* * *

The SWAT team arrives at the scene but stand well away from the battle zone. Wally and Mia show up already in uniform.

"Keep your men back, Captain," Wally states.

"Trust us, it's for your own good," Mia adds. _"Where's Evan?"_

"Protecting the city's what they pay me for, Speedy," he looks over at Mia in confusion. "Who are you supposed to be?"

"Blink."

Before he can make a remark, Bart and Barry appear.

"No, Speedy's the other guy. Though history books were really unclear on the why."

Mia elbows Bart's arm muttering, "Ixnay on the urefut say."

"Let's please try to stay focused. Captain, the best way to protect this city is to keep its citizens at a safe distance. You handle that—" Barry's interrupted by Bart.

"And we handle Neutron, right?"

"Right. Wait. His name's Neutron?"

"Yeah, sure. Heard him shout it, you know, like bad guys do. 'I'm Neutron! All of you will die.' Anyway, what's the plan?"

Mia narrows her eyes at her nephew thinking _"Dude hasn't yelled his name once since we got here. How did Bart know his name?"_ She doesn't call him out on his lie so she keeps it to herself for now.

"Remember that wind funnel you used to save me?"

"Sure, I remember. I was there, so were you. Good times."

"We do it again on a bigger scale. You, me, Kid Flash, around the perimeter of the explosive wave with Blink distracting him."

Soon the two of them begin talking faster and faster.

"The funnel draws him upward."

"And we move him out of the city. Piece of cake."

The trio just stand there watching them talk faster than any normal human should.

"You getting any of this?" the Captain asks.

"Yes," Mia answers.

"Every fifth word maybe," Wally turns to Barry. "Flash. Yo, Flash!"

"Sorry, got sidetracked. You on board?"

"With what? I heard something about funnel cake."

"It was wind funnel, not funnel cake Kid," Mia sighs.

"Just follow our lead, Kid," Bart states.

He and Barry leave. Wally goes after, leaving Mia and the Captain in an awkward silence.

"So…" she turns her head to the Captain, "You're a speedster too?"

She smiles. "God no. I'm a teleporter sir. Besides, I think this city has enough speedsters, don't you think?"

He chuckles. "I guess you're right," the Captain pauses. "Aren't you going to help?"

"I would but their plan's not going to work."

"How do you know?"

"You'll see. Give it a second," she pauses. "Is Detective O'Brian in the field right now?"

"He's over at Foster and Pine where the other shelter is. Why?"

"On the way over, his fiancée told me to make sure that he remains alive or she'll kill him herself," Mia smiles.

"You saw Amelia? I know her. She's great and brings snacks over to the station every now and then. I'll notify O'Brian."

"Thank you, Captain."

* * *

The guys zoom over to Neutron and begin creating the wind funnel. Barry and Bart are doing great and then there's Wally. As he runs, Barry keeps passing him.

"Go ahead, lap me. I'm used to it," Bart starts passing him too. "Aw, come on!"

Shortly enough, Neutron's now in the air because of the wind funnel.

"No. This interference…will not…stand!"

Neutron begins releasing the energy waves rapidly. Although far from the action, Mia notes the increase of energy waves being released and gets worried.

"Oh boy," she mutters.

"We are so going to feel the mode," Bart states.

* * *

"Neutron's energy level increases…faster than he can release it."

"The mode is crashing. He's going critical."

* * *

"Ahh!" Neutron releases all of his energy.

The energy forms into a giant ball and continues to grow as it destroys everything in its path. Apparently not running fast enough, Wally's flanked by Barry and Bart. They grab each arm and run.

"This is so humiliating," Wally mutters.

During the time, Mia teleports the officers away from the blast. When the speedsters are at a safe distance, they turn around to see the damage. Bart frowns and starts walking back. Barry stops him.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I just wanted a closer look. What harm could it do? Neutron totally felt the mode. He's gone."

"Who's Neutron?" Wally asks.

"The bad guy," they chorus.

"Ok, fine," Wally uses his goggles to see Neutron putting himself back together. "Except he's not so much feeling modes as putting his body back together from scratch."

* * *

"What's going on? How did I get here? What's happened to me?"

"Our control device was destroyed in the explosion. Subject Neutron has crashed the mode."

"Abort the test, time to go."

The two figures leave. The warehouse they've been using explodes, destroying any evidence revealing they used it.

* * *

"Switching to infrared." Wally does, "I think that get up he was wearing before was some kind of containment suit. Without it, he's even less stable. Looks to me like he's going to blow again, maybe bigger than before."

"Oh really? And what made you think that?" They turn around to see Mia. "Was it the color red that made you notice? Or how he's still pulsing with energy? Take your pick, I've got more."

"Are you okay?" Barry asks noticing the tears and cuts in her suit.

"I'm fine. Got a little caught in the blast but I managed to get the officers out safely," she looks at the state she's in. _"Evan's not going to be happy about this."_

Barry nods.

He turns to Wally, "Kid, let me see those."

Wally hands him the goggles. Barry uses them and quickly discovers something.

"There are fluctuations now between his energy waves."

"I didn't see that," Wally states.

"Me neither and I usually have a good eye for these things," Mia adds.

"You don't have the Allen family eyes," Bart boasts.

"Don't make me hurt you," Wally narrows his eyes at him.

Mia only sighs and rubs her forehead. _"He's here less than a day and I'm already getting a headache. Even Wally wasn't this bad back then."_

"Each fluctuation only lasts a micro second, but at near light speed, I can race in, grab Neutron, and haul him to the desert to minimize damage."

Bart's eyes widen. Mia notices.

"That sounds kind of—" Bart starts to talk.

"You three stay put," Barry hands Wally the goggles back. "I'll be back in a Flash," and off he goes.

Mia looks to Wally. "I can teleport him out to the desert."

"No. There's only a micro second between each fluctuation, you won't be able to teleport him out there fast enough before the next wave."

"Then I guess I better try it out now."

Wally grips her arms. "The only time you'll be doing something this reckless and stupid will be over my dead body. You nearly died teleporting to the moon, what if you died doing this? The pressure would be too much for your body."

"Wally—"

"My answer is still no."

"You did what?" Bart exclaims.

The duo suddenly remembers Bart's with them.

She looks over to her nephew. "I teleported to the moon and succeeded on the first try."

"At a cost though," Wally sighs as he releases his grip on her. "Massive internal bleeding and near loss of consciousness. Besides that, it was peachy."

"I thought _I_ was supposed to be the sarcastic and sassy one in the family," Mia smiles.

" _I do remember Tia telling about what happens when she uses her powers too much."_ "Well this was fun. See ya!" Bart runs over to help Barry.

"Impulse wait!" Mia shouts but she's too late. _"Damn these speedsters."_

* * *

As Barry was reaching Neutron, Bart appears and tries to help. Unfortunately, he trips and they collide.

"Ow," Bart mutters.

They watch Neutron stand. Another energy wave is released. Before it gets to them, Wally and Jay rescue them before they die. Once they're away from the blast zone, Wally sets Barry down and Jay does the same to Bart. Mia appears between Wally and Barry. She hugs her dad relieved that he's alive. Her attention went to when Wally scolds him.

"You realize you almost got him killed, right?"

"Sorry, I—"

"Actually, he saved me. Or at least you all did. Neutron's overload accelerated. Even at my top speed, I'd have never made it to the desert in time," Barry looks to Jay in surprise. "But what are you doing? You're retired. You could have died."

"Eh. Joan's gonna kill me just for putting on the tin hat."

"I'll kill you for her," she slaps the back of Jay's head. "What the hell were you thinking?! Barry's right, you could've died. If you died, Grandma Joan would be a widow, everyone would be devastated and I would lose another family member. And where are my brothers?! I thought they were supposed to watch you!"

She can't stop the tears trailing down her cheeks.

Jay brushes them away and kisses her forehead. "I'm sorry sweetheart."

Mia sniffles. "You better be. Hey, you didn't answer my question."

"Hey, where's the kid?" Wally asks.

"What?!" Mia exclaims. "Bart, where are you?!"

She teleports around to search for him.

* * *

Back in the crater where Neutron's reconstructing himself, Bart arrives. He pulls out a small blue marble-like sphere and drops it near Neutron. The ball touches his finger and is absorbed into his body. Blue lines appear on his body while he's still rebuilding himself. Mia arrives first then the guys.

She breathes out a sigh of relief but before she could berate Bart, Wally speaks.

"Is that—"

"Yeah. Might want to get him a blanket or something."

"What's happening to me?"

"We're not sure, son."

"But it looks like it's over. His heat signature reads normal human now," Wally states.

"What did happen?" Jay wonders.

"No idea. Guess old Neutron just ran out of juice."

"Who's Neutron?"

"Now that's been taken care of," Mia glares at Bart, "We're going to have a _long_ talk young man."

He nervously laughs and makes a run for it. Mia teleports after him.

"He's a goner," Wally mutters.

Barry and Jay nod in agreement.

* * *

In Tibet, Jade and Roy finally finishes taking down the last of the guards. Lian giggles from watching her parents fight.

"Should I be concerned over the obvious delight our daughter takes in the ultra-violence?"

"It's genetic."

"Great. Well, this is the door they didn't want us anywhere near, so…" he notches an arrow and aims at the door.

The door explodes. They walk in. There's a single pod in the whole room. They stand in front of it. Roy doesn't move a muscle. _"This is it. We've found Speedy."_

Jade presses a few buttons on the panel and the door opens. Speedy falls out but Roy quickly catches him. He groans a little.

"Hee hee. Daddas," Lian states.

* * *

At Mount Justice, Nightwing tests Bart's DNA to see if what he claims is true. Bart's gently rubbing his ear because of how hard Mia pinches it when he was being scolded. His ear is now the same red color as Wally's hair. _"Sheesh, I knew Tia had always scolded people but I never dreamed of being on the receiving end of it."_

"Impulse's DNA matches up with both Iris and you, Barry. And this thing is giving off both zeta and chronotron radiation," Nightwing states.

"Which is, based on pure theory, what you'd expect to find radiating off a time machine," Wally deduces.

"Which means you're exactly who you say you are," Barry clasps Bart's shoulder.

"Ha! Told you. Anyway, it's been crash, but the future awaits. I gotta run."

Barry smiles at the pun. _"Yes, he is definitely my grandson."_

Jay was just done. _"Oh brother."_

Wally stares at the invisible camera like he's in the Office. _"I know he didn't just say a pun,"_ Mia slaps her forehead. _"He's an Allen alright."_

"Ha ha! See what I did there with the run? That was for you, Gramps."

"Bart, thanks for coming. I look forward to meeting you again for the first time," Barry places his hands on Bart's shoulders, "And watching you grow up."

"That will be crash," he hugs Barry and Barry finally hugs back. "So long."

"Wait!"

Bart's engulfed into a hug by Mia.

She whispers. "Ten cuidado, mi pequeño sobrino."

"Claro Tia."

Bart kisses her cheek then enters the time machine. Everyone waits for something to happen but nothing ever does.

"Maybe he's traveling forward one second at a time?" Garfield suggests.

"I don't think time machines work like that," Mia answers.

Bart kicks open the door. "It's not working. The whole thing's fried."

"Can you fix it?"

"I'm a tourist, not a chronal expert. Look at me, I'm trapped in the stupid past. Ugh. I'm so moded."

"You'll be completely moded if you keep up with that attitude of yours," Mia threatens.

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

A man wearing prison garb and an inhibitor collar walks over to a young boy working on some machinery.

"How's it coming?"

"Almost finished."

"Wish I could go along."

"Sorry," he turns his head, "Only seats one."

"You understand the trip to the past will fry the machine's circuitry. This is a one-way ticket."

"Of course, he knows," a man in his early forties walks towards them, "He's reckless like that."

"Does this look like a future worth returning to?"

 _ **Mount Justice**_

 _ **February 28, 10:05 EST**_

 _ **40 Years Later**_

Bart sighs. "Well, I better get in character, Neutron."

"Please don't use that name. I was Neutron for too many years, through too much destruction," the man clasps Neutron's shoulder in condolence. "Curing me and saving Flash's life, you know, that's only the beginning," he hands Bart the marble.

"I know, Nathaniel. Big mission, lots to do. Better get to it."

"Wait."

Bart stops to look at the 40 something year old man. The man's 5'9 with caramel eyes, tanned, and short wavy hair. He wears jeans, boots, and a beat-up hoodie with four simple letter which are fading; CCPD.

"If you see them," he pauses, "Just hug them for me alright?"

"I will."

"One more thing," he pulls out an envelope and hands it to Bart. "I know this will mode the time stream but I don't give a fuck. Hand this to my mom when you get the chance."

Bart takes the envelope and places it in his glove compartment, "You got it."

The man hugs him. "Ten cuidado primo."

"Claro JJ. I'm always careful."

"No, you're not," JJ chuckles.

JJ finally lets Bart go. Bart enters the time machine and is gone. JJ and Nathaniel shield their eyes. When the light disappears, Nathaniel opens his eyes. He looks at his clothing and feels around his neck.

" _No collar."_ "That kid is so crash. He did it. It's a new day," he looks around realizing everything looks the same "No. The time stream. It should've all changed. All at once. The mode, it should have crashed. It should have all crashed."

Nathaniel falls to his knees in despair. After a few minutes, he realizes another thing. Looking around he can't find JJ.

"JJ? Where are you? JJ Ramires O'Brian!"


	13. Superhero Wedding Pt 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own YJ, they belong to DC. I own my OCs!**

 _ **Central City**_

 _ **March 1, 18:47 EST**_

After a long day at work, Evan walks in the apartment and takes off his jacket. It took him longer than he expected to get back to the apartment.

" _That damn villain just had to destroy the roads leaving the station."_ Evan sighs, "Honey, I'm home."

"In the kitchen."

Hanging his jacket up and placing his keys in the bowl by the front door, Evan drags his feet into the kitchen. He rubs his face and breathes out a tired sigh. Like a sixth sense, Evan automatically knows where Mia is in the kitchen and hugs her from behind.

He rests his head in the crook of her neck mumbling, "What's for dinner?"

She kisses his head. "Something light. I know you've had a long day and I thought you might not want to eat anything heavy for dinner tonight."

"What is it?"

"Grilled cheese and chocolate milk."

Lifting his head up, Evan looks over Mia's shoulder to see two sandwiches on the pan.

His stomach growls. "Mozzarella cheese?"

"Yep."

"God, you're the best," he kisses her cheek. "How did I end up with the greatest woman in the universe?"

"You should thank that purse thief. If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have met," she pauses. "How is he anyway?"

"Don't know. He's been quiet. Why?"

"I don't know. Thought that we could invite him to the wedding."

Evan freezes. Mia moves out of his grasp and turns off the stove. She sets up the small table in the kitchen and places the two sandwiches on their respective plates. Looking over her shoulder, she sees Evan's still in the same spot.

" _Oh brother."_ Grabbing his hand Mia leads him to the table and sits him down on the chair. She snaps her fingers a few times until Evan comes back to reality.

"Did you get lost in Oz or something? You really spaced out Ev, are you okay?"

He blinks a few times. "Am I okay? Mia, you just said you wanted to invite a convicted criminal to our wedding. Which will be full of superheroes and not to mention all of CCPD."

"I don't see the harm in it. He might've changed, we never know. Maybe he's got a paying job and isn't stealing anymore."

"We're not inviting him to the wedding," Evan states as a matter of fact.

She shrugs. "Worth a shot. Now since we're on the topic of the wedding, who are we inviting?"

Evan takes a bite out of the grill cheese and talks with his mouth full. "Well there's the Team, Wally and Artemis, your parents, Miguel with Tony, Tulio with Abby, plus your aunt and uncle, the Garricks…"

"Ev, chew before you speak." Mia chuckles. "I swear it's like I'm back in the Cave and Wally's talking with his mouth stuffed with food."

"Sorry," he swallows. "Then there's my side of the family."

"And our nephew Bart," she adds so casually.

"Yes, and our nephew…Wait what?" he exclaims.

"Bartholomew Allen II, our nephew and Dad's grandson who time traveled here from the future. I thought I explained to you what happened yesterday," Mia feigns innocence.

"No, you didn't."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure!"

"Huh," she sheepishly smiles. "Oops."

Evan wags his finger. "No, no, no. You're not getting out of this. Tell me everything."

And so, she does. Mia goes over everything that's happened from Bart's arrival at the Cave to the defeat of Neutron. She even tells him Dick had Bart's DNA tested to ensure that he's telling the truth; it's a match after all. Now Evan can't wait to meet his nephew from the future.

He can't stop smiling. "He can be the ring bearer but he can't speed down the aisle though."

"Great. So, when do you want to have the wedding?"

"I don't know. Why?" Mia shifts uncomfortably in her seat. "Mia?"

"I-I was thinking that we could…um…have it soon."

He furrows his brows. "How soon are we talking here?"

"Like next week."

He chokes on his sandwich. Grabbing the glass of chocolate milk, Evan gulps it down to soothe his throat.

"Next week?! We can't plan a wedding in less than a week!" he calms down. "Why move up the wedding Mia?"

Mia sighs. "I don't know if it's my nerves or maybe my magic ability."

The mention of her magic, he knows it's serious. When Mia came back from getting her sister back, she told him everything that happened; discovering her family's history to Constantine and Ana Sophia having some sort of relationship. Evan's glad Ana Sophia's back but he becomes worried from learning that his kid(s) might be targets for their magic powers.

"Is something going to happen?"

"I-I don't know. All I know that it's not happening any time soon but in the near future."

They fall into silence. Neither saying a word as they're in their own world.

Evan's the first to speak. "Where do you want to have the wedding?"

She smiles. "I'll answer your question when you answer mine."

"Okay…"

"How do you feel about having two weddings?"

 _ **Watchtower**_

 _ **March 3, 15:30 EST**_

" _So, this is what she meant about two weddings,"_ Evan thinks as he stands at the alter in a suit. Captain Atom agreed to become the pastor for the "wedding." Deep down he's honored to do it. The couple came to him asking if they could do the wedding for some of the Leaguers who wouldn't be able to attend the other wedding due to either being instantly recognized or lack of secret identity. He said it's perfectly fine and they can even hold the ceremony in the garden.

The garden's set up to hold a small wedding. Less than 50 chairs are set facing the alter and are already filled with members of both the League and Team. Traditionally, one side of the aisle would belong to the groom's family and the other the bride's family but since everyone knows them, they sit wherever they liked. Everyone chats amongst themselves as they wait for the wedding to begin.

Garfield bounces in his seat, "I'm so excited. I've never been to a wedding before."

M'gann smiles. "I've never been to an Earth wedding before but I've been to some on Mars. I wonder how different it is from Mars."

"Neptune's beard. What's taking so long?" La'gaan grumbles.

"Calm down already. She'll be out soon enough," Connor chides.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mia's getting ready with her brothers' help.

"You ready?" Miguel asks.

"I shouldn't be this nervous. It's not even the real thing," Mia answers as she wrings her hands.

Tulio zips up her dress. "Don't tell us your getting cold feet already."

"No! It's j-just butterflies, that's all."

He chuckles. "Then you're going to be fine."

The brothers take a step back to appreciate their work. Mia has on a white dress reaching mid-thigh and white flats. Her makeup's simple yet elegant. She has her hair styled and down. In her hands are a bouquet of lilacs. The brothers hold out their arms. She takes them.

"Let's do this."

* * *

Back in the garden, everyone's waiting for the bride. The song "Here Comes the Bride" begins playing over the audio system. Everyone stands and looks behind them. Evan straightens himself up then turns to watch for Mia.

Walking down the aisle is Lola carrying a basket of flower petals. She shakes the basket little by little so the petals will fall onto the ground. Walking beside her is Wolf who's the ring bearer. He makes sure that the rings don't fall off the pillow as he makes his way down the aisle. Coming up behind them are the Ramires siblings.

Miguel and Tulio walk Mia down the aisle since Barry will do it in the actual wedding. Everyone smiles as they watch the trio head for the alter. Evan can't take his off of Mia. _"If this is the water downed version, I might cry at the actual wedding,"_ he thinks as Mia reaches the alter.

Mia keeps her head up and eyes glued on Evan. The smile spreading across her face doesn't falter not even once. _"So, this is what it feels like. I like it."_ They finally arrive. The boys hand her off to Evan but not before kissing her cheeks. They walk off to the left and stand next to Connor and Mal.

"Please be seated," Captain Atom says.

Everyone sits in their seats and are eager for the wedding to finally begin.

"We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Amelia and Evan. If anyone here objects to their unification, speak now or forever hold your peace."

Silence fills the garden. Every pair of eyes scan the area to see who's going speak out. When no one does, Captain Atom continues.

"Now then let's move on to the vows," he looks to Evan, "Evan."

Evan nods and swallows the lump forming in his throat. He relaxes himself then stares into the chocolate brown eyes he loves so dearly.

"Amelia, I don't know where to start but what I want to say first is thank you," he pauses. "Thank you for being in my life. Thank you for all the moments we shared and the memories we created together. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your life too. I also want to thank you for going after that purse thief because if you hadn't, I don't think we would be standing up here together,"

Everyone chuckles since they heard the story from Mia.

"You're the single greatest thing that has ever happened to me. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you and that includes going to the pharmacy at three in the morning for a pint of cookie dough ice cream," he gives her a knowing look.

She blushes. "That was one time."

"Try two times."

Mia sticks her tongue out like a child. Everyone laughs. Once the laughter dies down, Evan continues.

"What I'm saying is, you're the missing piece in my life. Without you, my best friend, I don't think I could live. I love you with every fiber and atom in my body because you, Amelia, are worth more to me than anything in the universe."

Tears roll down Mia's cheeks. Thank god she wearing waterproof mascara or it would be a disaster. The ladies are sniffling at the heartfelt vow. The guys stare in awe. They didn't think Evan would dig down and speak from his heart.

A tissue floats towards Mia. She grabs it and looks to Zatanna in appreciation. The woman shakes her head silently saying _It wasn't me._ In confusion, Mia looks to the only other magic user, Dr. Fate. He nods towards her. She blinks in surprise then smiles brightly at him. _"Maybe Zatara sent the tissue against Fate's wishes. Good for you Giovani."_ After dabbing her eyes, Mia collects herself and is ready to say her vows.

"Amelia."

"First, your welcome," she smiles. "But now it's my turn to say thank you. Thank you for everything this past year. Thank you for sticking by my side through thick and thin. You're my best friend and I can't even _begin_ to think what life would be like without you. I know that I can be a handful at times and I love that you can call me out when I lie. That's the kind of person I fell in love with but also how you can be so calm while I act like a hotheaded Latina,"

Everyone laughs because they know it's true. She turns her gaze towards the audience with an unamused expression.

"Haha. You're all hilarious."

The laughter dies down. Some are biting their bottom lips to stop laughing. Others are hiding their smiles behind their hands.

Mia looks back to Evan. "As I was saying. People say opposites attract and I couldn't agree more. You're the ice to my fire. The Han to my Leia. The Oreo to my milk. The Mickey to my Minnie. You're everything that I'm not and that's what I need in my life, the other half of my soul and that's you Evan. I know that we'll be together no matter what, even when we die, we'll be together in a different life. Don't you think?"

"More than anything," he smiles.

"Then I swear to find you, wherever you are, in this lifetime and the next."

"I also swear to find you, wherever you are, in this lifetime and the next."

Captain Atom clears his throat drawing the couple's attention.

"Evan, will you take Amelia Rosa Fuentes Ramires West-Allen, to be your lawful wedded wife? Will you love, comfort, honor and protect her; forsaking all others to be faithful to her until death do you part?"

"I do."

"Amelia, will you take Evan Tyler O'Brian, to be your lawful wedded husband? Will you love, comfort, honor and protect him; forsaking all others to be faithful to him until death do you part?"

"Of course, I do," she smiles.

"The rings please," Captain Atom requests.

Wolf walks over to them. He sits down and holds the pillow steadily. Evan takes the ring from the pillow and places it on Mia's left hand.

"Evan repeat after me: 'With this ring I thee wed',"

"With this ring I thee wed."

'I offer you my hand, and my heart as I know they will be safe with you,'

"I offer you my hand, my heart and my life as I know they will be safe with you." " _I give her everything she desires."_

'All that I am I give to you and all that I have I share with you.'

"All that I am I give to you and all that I have I share with you."

"Amelia repeat after me: 'With this ring I thee wed',"

Mia grabs the other ring and places it on Evan's left hand. "With this ring I thee wed."

'I offer you my hand, and my heart as I know they will be safe with you,'

"I offer you my hand, my heart and my life as I know they will be safe with you." _"I know that I'll be safe with you no matter what."_

'All that I am I give to you and all that I have I share with you.'

"All that I am I give to you and all that I have I share with you."

"By the power vested in me, as the leader of the Justice League, I now pronounce you as husband and wife. You may kiss your bride."

Evan grabs Mia by the waist and passionately kisses her. She kisses back with the same passion. Everyone cheers and claps. The now "married" couple break away and smile at their friends.

Almost immediately everyone wlks over to congratulate them. They receive good wishes, hugs and a few wedding presents. After congratulating the couple, the Leaguers leave the garden and go back to saving the world.

Mia grabs Zatanna before she left. "Hey Z."

"Yeah?"

"Think you can help set up the second wedding?"

Zatanna smiles. "Of course! Do I get to be in the wedding this time?"

Mia chuckles. "You're one of the bridesmaids. Also, Raquel, Artemis, M'gann, Cassie, Karen and Batgirl."

"What color are the bridesmaid's dress?"

"I'll send you the details later."

* * *

Evan spots Bart talking to Jaime. He excuses himself and walks towards them.

"Enjoy the wedding boys?"

They turn to see Evan behind them.

"Si. It was great. Thanks for inviting me," Jaime says.

"Don't even think about it, Jaime. We enjoyed having you here. Hopefully you can come to the next one."

"The next one?"

"We're having two weddings. This one's for the Leaguers who wouldn't be able to make it."

"Oh."

"So, I'll see you at the next one?" Evan asks.

"Yeah!"

"Great," he pauses. "Would you mind giving Bart and I a second to talk?"

"Sure." Jaime looks to Bart. "Good luck ese," then leaves.

Bart nervously looks at his uncle with a single thought running through his mind _"I'm so moded."_ Evan notes Bart's nervous state and smiles.

He places a hand on Bart's head. "Kid, relax. You're not in trouble."

"Really?"

"Yes," he ruffles Bart's hair, "I just have a question for you."

"What is it?"

"Would you like to be the ring bearer in the next wedding?"

Bart's shocked. He can't believe Evan's giving him such an important job.

" _Wow."_ "That would be so crash! But why me? You could've asked anyone else but you didn't."

"I'll answer your question with a question. Why in the world would I ask someone else to be the ring bearer when I have my nephew from the future who is ready and able to do the job?" Evan smirks.

The young speedster's overfilled with so much joy that he hugs Evan and doesn't let go. Evan hugs his nephew back. He notices Bart tightening his grip like he's afraid Evan going to disappear.

Gently rubbing his back, Evan whispers. "Is everything okay Bart?"

"I don't want to talk about it," he mumbles in his uncle's shirt.

"If you don't tell me then I can't help you. I promise you that anything you say will remain between the two of us, not even Mia would know. It'll be our secret."

Bart looks up to see his uncle's face with utter shock. Tears slowly begin building up causing his eyes to shine.

"What?"

"I said it'll be our secret. Bart, are you crying?"

A single tear runs down his cheek. He quickly wipes it away and hides his face.

"No."

"Bud talk to me. We're family after all."

There's a moment of silence. Neither utter a word but Evan starts getting worried. He's about to call for Mia when Bart speaks in a low voice.

"You used to say that all the time."

"Say what?"

"'It'll be our secret'. I would tell you what was bothering me and you would listen and give advice. You always promised to never say anything to anyone not even to Tia Mia. I miss you guys."

Evan gently raises his nephew's face to see a small trail of tears racing down his cheek. He wipes them away and kisses his head.

"Bart, I want you to know that you can confide in me about anything. If it's things about the future go ahead and tell me. I know that it'll mess with the time stream but I don't give a fuck. You're my nephew and I want you to live a life without having the weight of the world on your shoulders. You don't deserve that, what you deserve is to be surrounded by friends and family and to be loved. So, whatever you're feeling, you can call me whenever you want or stop by at the house, okay?"

Bart takes a minute. He finally sees JJ in Evan or maybe it's the other way around; the same caramel eyes, strong jaw, the height and the short chocolate hair. The natural tan and wavy hair that JJ has comes from Mia.

" _I miss you guys but we didn't get to spend a lot of time together because you two died in battle. Also, you have a son named JJ who is the perfect blend of you and tia but he acts more like you than her. He misses you two more than anything and he would've come back with me if the time machine didn't have one seat. I don't know if he even exists in the future anymore but I'm praying that he is."_

That's what he wants to say but instead says, "I'll take your offer." He pauses. "And I love you guys."

Evan smiles. "I love you too bud. Now, let's go see Mia. I'm sure that she'll want to hear the good news."

"Y-Yeah."

The duo walks over to Mia. Evan pulls Bart to his side like a father would do to his son. _"You're going to be fine Bart, I promise,"_ Evan silently swears.


	14. Superhero Wedding Pt 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own YJ, they belong to DC. I own my OCs!**

 _ **Central City**_

 _ **March 6, 11:57 CST**_

The O'Brian's residence is a madhouse as everyone, who can drop by, helps with setting up and planning the wedding. Wally and Bart are doing the invitations and sending them thanks to their super speed. Mia and Artemis are coming up with color schemes for the wedding. Unfortunately, it's only the four of them since literally everyone is either working, on a mission, or at school.

"Thanks again for your help guys," Mia smiles.

"You kidding tia? Planning a wedding is fun!" Bart says as he finishes up writing the invitations.

"Happy to help cuz." Wally zips in behind the girls, "Don't go with orange."

"Wally's right," Artemis states.

"About orange?"

"Well that and we're happy to help."

A knock from the door causes everyone to stop. All four of them look to each other warily.

"Are you expecting anyone else?" Artemis inquires.

"No, I'm not."

"Wait here. I'll go check."

Wally goes to open the door. Everyone's on edge. With his hand on the doorknob, Wally opens it and is surprised to see a familiar face.

"Wally? Who is it?"

He moves to the side. "Mia, why didn't you tell me that you personally knew Queen Perdita of Vlatava?"

"What?!" she stands up.

It's true. Perdita's standing in the doorway with her security detail standing behind.

"Hello Mia."

"Oh my god, Perdita!" Mia quickly runs to the doorway and hugs the young queen. "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to help with the wedding," she giggles.

After the hug, the head of security hands her a binder. She then passes the binder to Mia. Mia, in her shocked state, takes the binder without realizing and still can't believe Perdita has flown all the way to Central City to help plan her wedding.

"Wow…wow. Oh, where are my manners? Come in please. Excuse the mess."

Perdita walks in. Mia looks to the security detail.

"Alexi, Daniel, Rufus, would you guys like to come in? I have PB&J sandwiches and lemonade in the kitchen if you want some," she offers.

"I don't think so Miss Amelia. It—"

"Oh, for the love of God. Just get your asses in here and relax for a bit. You're still keeping on Perdita and maybe you three can help out."

The trio glance between themselves. Another look from Mia and they walk in. While the security detail begins munching on the sandwiches, Mia introduces Perdita to her family.

"Perdita, this is my cousin Wally and his girlfriend Artemis."

"Pleased to meet you Your Highness," Artemis says.

"Hello," Wally waves.

"And my nephew Bart."

"Hi! Wow. You're a real queen. This is the first time I've ever met a queen. What's it like ruling a country? How old are you? What country are you from? Do you—" he's speaking too quickly.

"Bart!" He quickly shuts his mouth. "I'm sorry Perdita. Bart gets a bit too excited sometimes," Mia explains.

She giggles. "It's quite alright Mia. I'm glad to meet some of your family," she looks to the couple, "And when are you…what's the phrase you Americans use…tying the knot?"

Wally and Artemis both turn redder than tomatoes. Neither can utter a word to anyone let alone to each other.

" _Thank you,_ Perdita. I've been telling them that for years and they always have a comeback. Now that someone else says it, they clam up," Mia smirks.

"You're welcome. Now let's plan a wedding."

After spending hours on figuring out color schemes, bridesmaid dresses, and a wedding dress, everything was set. Before saying their goodbyes, Perdita surprises Mia for the second time tonight.

"Thanks for your help Perdita."

"Consider it as yours and Evan's wedding present."

"Thank…wait what?"

"Your wedding is my present. I'm paying for it."

Mia's eyes go wide with shock. "Oh, Perdita. I can't allow you to—"

She raises a hand, "I insist. You've done a lot for me these past few years and I can't thank you enough for it. This is my way of saying thank you."

"Okay," Mia smiles.

The two of them hug.

Perdita whispers in Mia's ear. "I also want to thank you for saving me from my uncle all those years ago. You were able to get the heart to me in time, so thank you Blink."

Mia chuckles softly. "No problem kiddo." _"Guess she figured it out."_

They let go. Perdita and her detail leave the apartment. Mia looks back to the trio behind her. All of them have their jaws on the floor and eyes bugged out.

"Did she just…"

"Offer to pay…"

"For the whole wedding?"

"Yes, yes she did. Now stop lollygagging and help me clean this place up."

In under three minutes, the whole apartment's clean. The couple leave after saying their goodbyes. Bart side glances at his aunt. She does the same to her nephew.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Binge watching Grey's Anatomy and ordering pizza from Tony's?"

"Oh yeah."

The two of them race to the couch and begin watching their show. During an episode, Mia calls the pizza parlor. Twenty minutes later, a knock comes from the door. Mia pauses the show to grab the pizza. Opening the door, she smiles at the delivery boy Travis.

"Hey Travis."

"Hi Mia," he sets down two delivery bags full of pizza, "Here's your order."

"Thanks. Bart come get the pizza."

Bart walks to the door and grabs the twelve pizza boxes then leaves.

"Thanks!"

"Don't even think about touching the remote Bartholomew."

"Yeah, yeah."

She sighs. "So how much do I owe you Travis?" Mia asks as she pulls out the cash from her wallet.

"Just $30 for tonight."

Her head snaps up. "Whoa hold on there, Travis. This is normally $60 at best."

"You got the family discount," he shrugs.

"There's no family discount. I should know since I've been ordering from Tony's for the past four years."

"Tony gave you the discount. He appreciates you ordering from his restaurant all the time. You don't want to disappoint the old man now, do you?"

"I guess not." She smiles, "Here you go Travis." Mia hands him a $50 bill. "Keep the change."

"W-Wow thanks Mia."

"Put it towards your college textbook fund. And remember to always—"

"Rent the textbooks. I know, I know."

"Good. Now enjoy the rest of your night Travis and don't work too hard."

"Yes ma'am" and he leaves.

Mia closes the door and heads back to the couch. Bart's already on his fourth box by the time she comes back. She sits down next to her nephew and opens her own box of pizza. Grabbing the remote, Mia presses play and the two of them continued to binge watch Grey's.

 _ **Natural History Museum**_

 _ **March 12, 15:51 CST**_

The day finally arrives. The actual wedding happens today. All of the guests are itching for the wedding to start. Evan's family's surprised that the wedding's happening so soon but Evan and Mia explained to them that it was easier to have it now instead of later in the year. None of them complained. They're just happy Evan found a nice girl to spend the rest of his life with. On his side are:

His parents, Mike and Grace.

Cousin Molly and her daughter Connie.

Aunt Ann and Uncle Kevin.

Uncle Phil and Aunt May.

Grandpa Milo and Grandma Monica.

Grandpa Rick and Grandma Maggie.

His younger sister Alex and her boyfriend Justin.

His two best friends Leo and Jemma.

Detective Pat Smith, his partner.

On Mia's side are:

Barry and Iris.

Uncle Rudy and Aunt Mary.

Jay and Joan Garrick.

Ted.

Daniel Buckley.

Victoria and her boyfriend Bobby.

Abi and Tony who are waiting with Barry and Iris since their boyfriends are groomsmen.

Perdita and Dimitri plus the security detail keeping an eye out for anything suspicious.

The entire Team who have civilian identities came as well as some Leaguers. The entire CSI department of CCPD and almost the entire force of CCPD. There has to be a few who have to stay behind and keep the place running. Amongst the CCPD, they're split evenly between the two sides. Hidden in the shadows are Roy and Jade as well as Ana Sophia and Constantine. Neither couple knew about the other.

* * *

In a conference room that's been turned into a temporary dressing room, Mia's getting ready along with her bridesmaids. Artemis is the Maid of Honor. The other bridesmaids are M'gann, who's in her "human form", Raquel, Karen, Cassie, Barbara and Zatanna. The door opens and Molly walks in with her six-year-old daughter Connie.

"Hey Mia. Sorry we're late. You know how my parents get every time they see Connie," she sighs.

Mia turns around with a knowing smile. "I do, it's fine Molly. Hi Connie."

"Hi," she shyly waves.

"Oh, come here you little munchkin."

Connie giggles and runs towards Mia. She picks the six year old up and hugs her.

"You're just so cute! Are you ready to be my flower girl?"

"Yeah!"

"Alrighty," Mia places Connie back down. "Why don't you and your mommy go get yourselves all pretty?"

"Ok!" she turns to her mother and grabs her hand, "Come on Mommy."

Molly laughs. "I'm coming. I'm coming."

* * *

In another conference room, the guys are getting ready as well. Evan has seven groomsmen:

Miguel and Tulio.

Wally.

Taylor, his cousin on his dad's side.

Ethan, his best friend since college.

Chris, best friend from high school.

Kyle, best friend from childhood and Evan's Best Man.

Of course, no one can forget about the ring bearer, Bart.

Evan's pacing around the room while the rest are sitting around and watching him. They have an ongoing bet to see how long it will take for Evan to explode from nervousness. So far only five minutes have passed meaning Chris, Ethan and Wally lost since they believe he would explode in three minutes.

Miguel and Tulio bet Evan will take 10 minutes. Taylor and Kyle say 12 minutes. Bart's the odd man out and bets 20 minutes. Only time will tell who the winner is.

"God this is nerve wrecking. I'm getting hot. Is it hot in here? Does anyone else feel hot?" Evan panics.

"Whoa, take it easy bro," Kyle grabbed his shoulders. "Breathe before you pass out."

"Okay, okay." Evan inhales deeply then exhales slowly. "I'm calm. I'm calm."

"Sure, you are bud." _"He's a nervous wreck."_ Kyle pats his shoulder.

"Why do I have to wear this suit? It's making me feel stuffy," Bart complains.

"Silenciar. Don't make me get your tia," Miguel scolds.

"Yeah right," he challenges.

"He doesn't believe me Tulio," he looks at his twin.

"Well he should. Mi querido sobrino, you have two options: 1. Suck it up or 2. Face our wrath since Mia is a little busy at the moment."

"I'll…um…I'll…I'll take option one," Bart stutters.

"Good. Now relax kid, at least it's not your wedding."

He laughs at his uncle's joke.

* * *

Back with the girls, they're getting ready when another knock is heard. Before Mia stands up, Zatanna goes to open the door. When she does, she's shocked.

"Hey Mia, I think it's for you."

Moving off to the side, Zatanna allows the small group of people to enter. Mia glances over and does a double take. Her eyes instantly well up with tears.

"What?" she whispers.

"Mia, who are they?" M'gann asks.

"My parents and foster family," she speaks through the mind link.

"Let's give them a moment," Zatanna suggests.

Everyone stands up and leaves the room. No one but Connie asks questions. Molly quietly explains to her daughter as they leave the room.

Zatanna looks over to Mia. "Want me to get your brothers?"

"Please."

"Okay."

The door closes and the room becomes silent. Her eyes meet every pair of eyes she knows and loves.

"Ho…how?"

"It was Dr. Fate," Luis answers.

"Not that I'm happy about it," Carmen crosses her arms against her chest "That selfish, arrogant, no good son of a—"

"Calma mi querida," Luis kisses his wife's head.

"Yes, yes," Carmen sighs.

She then takes in Mia's appearance. Her eyes instantly become misty with unshed tears.

"It's like looking in a mirror. My Little Rosa, you've grown up into such a beautiful woman."

"Mami. Papi."

Mia runs to her parents. They place her in the middle and they hug her to bits. All of them cry. Carmen takes her daughter's face into her hands and kisses her face. Luis constantly kisses his daughter's head.

"Amelia, we've missed you so much."

"I…I," she hiccups, "Missed you guys too. You have no idea what I've been through." Mia cries.

"It's all fine now, we're here mija," Luis glances to his left smiling, "And we're not the only ones."

Snapping her head to the right, Mia sees the Rogers.

"Oh my god," she runs over to them.

The trio hug her just as tightly as her parents did.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I should've been there to save you guys. It's all my fault," Mia cries.

Will rubs her back. "This isn't your fault Mia. None of it is. Had you been there, you wouldn't be here now."

"He's right dear. I'm just glad to see you alive and all grown up. Let me look at you," Rose holds Mia at arm's length. "My god, you're stunning. You look exactly like your mother."

"Thanks Rose," Mia smiles.

"So, you're just going to ignore me? That's fine. I wasn't planning on talking to you anyway," JJ complains.

Mia punches his shoulder.

"Ow," he rubs it, "That's some right hook you got there."

"Shut up JJ."

The two of them hug. Mia tightens her grip and begins crying again. JJ holds her head against his chest. They stand there for a few more minutes.

Mia whispers. "You were assassinated because of me. I'm so sorry JJ."

"You don't know that."

"I do. The audio recorder you sent me recorded the assassin killing your parents. He even threatened to kill you if I didn't turn myself over to him."

"It's…It's going to be fine. You'll catch him Lil M, I know you will."

The door flings open and, in the doorway, stands the Twins.

"Is it true?! Is it…true…" Miguel sees his parents alive, right in front of him.

"It is," Tulio quietly answers.

They walk in and close the door behind them.

"My sons. My beautiful sons," Carmen cries.

She walks closer to them. All three run into each other's arms and cry. Luis shortly follows. He clasps Tulio's shoulders.

"Look at you. You're so grown up. The two of you look just like me when I was your age."

"They have your height Papi," Mia adds.

"That they do mija. That they do."

Carmen finally realizes something. "Wait. Where's your sister? Where's Ana Sophia?"

The siblings glance at each other not daring to say a word. Their mom notices and gives them the original "look" that Mia always gives to other people. The look that is scarier than the Batglare.

"Kids, spill it."

"Well…"

"We don't know _where_ she is…"

"But we know _who_ she's with."

Carmen immediately thinks of the worst. _"Oh no. Klarion has Ana Sophia! My sweet baby girl."_ Mia notes her mother's horrified expression and quickly explains.

"It's not what you think Mami. She's with Constantine. We just don't know where they are, that's all."

"Constantine?!"

"Yes," they chorused.

"I'm going to haunt his ass for however long it takes," Carmen swears.

" _At least she doesn't know they had sex,"_ they all thought.

Suddenly her parents and the Rogers begin to appear transparent.

"Looks like our time's up," JJ comments.

"What do you mean? What's going on?!" Mia shouts.

"All of us have to go back Mia no matter how much we want to stay longer," Will explains.

"N-No you guys can't leave me. Not again!"

"Mija, we're never truly gone. All of us are right in here," Luis points at her heart, "Forever."

"Oh Papi."

He kisses her forehead. "We love you Amelia. Never forget that."

"I won't."

Carmen and Luis take one more look at their kids.

"We're so proud of all of you."

"We want you to continue looking after each other, do I make myself clear?"

"Si Mami," they chorus.

"Good. Remember we love you with every fiber in our bodies and all of our hearts," then they disappeared.

Mia quickly looks to her right and watches the Rogers disappearing too.

"Not you guys too," she whispers.

"I'm sorry Mia."

"But your father is right. We'll always be in your heart forever."

"Besides, you have the locket. It's not like you could forget our faces."

Mia cracks a smile. "You're right JJ."

"Thank you for caring for Mia," Miguel says before the Rogers disappear.

"We appreciate everything you've done for her," Tulio adds.

"You're quite welcome boys," Will smiles.

"We wish you luck Mia."

"We'll always have your back Lil M. Always remember that," JJ winks.

Just like her parents, they disappear too.

The siblings are silent. Mia breathes in shakily then slowly exhales.

"I'm glad we got to see them," Miguel softly speaks.

"Me too."

"Same here." Mia quickly wipes away the remaining tears. She sniffles. "Now get out of here, I still need to get ready."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Whatever you say hermana."

Her brothers kissed her cheeks then left the room.

"Okay," Mia breathes in deeply then exhales slowly. "Let's get this show on the road."

* * *

Deep in her subconscious, the glass cracks. The crack spreads throughout the glass. "Just one more push and I'm free."

* * *

 _ **Natural History Museum**_

 _ **March 12, 17:00 CST**_

Evan stands ready at the alter fidgeting his tie. _"I hope everything's fine."_ The musicians begin to play grabbing everyone's attention. All turn their heads behind them to watch as the groomsmen and bridesmaids walk down the aisle. In order down the aisle comes: Zatanna and Miguel, Tulio and Raquel, Wally and Cassie, M'gann and Taylor, Ethan and Babs, Karen and Chris, and finally Artemis and Kyle.

Once they arrive at their spots, "Here Comes the Bride" begins to play. Everyone stands up and turn to watch Mia walk down the aisle. Walking in front are Connie and Bart. Little Connie throws handfuls of rose petals all across the path. Bart smiles brightly as he holds onto the pillow with the rings tightly. The bride-to-be walks with Barry at her arm. Time seems to move at the pace of a snail. Her heart beats against her chest as if it wants to escape. She clutches onto Barry's hand and squeezes tightly.

"Is someone getting cold feet?" Barry whispers.

"Cold feet? No. Feeling my heart about to explode and I pass out? Absolutely," Mia whispers back.

"Don't be."

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Because Wally told me Evan almost passed out from how nervous he was and you _know_ Evan's not a nervous person to begin with."

"True."

Barry gazes over to his son-in-law and smiles at what he finds.

"Mia, look at Evan."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

She does. What she finds makes her heart swell with love. Evan standing frozen still. An awe-struck smile on his face and tears spring to life in his eyes. He wipes them away to try to collect himself. Mia feels calmer somehow. She always knew Evan's her rock.

Soon, father and daughter reach the alter. Barry hands Mia off to Evan and takes his seat next to Iris. The ceremony begins. In the shadows, Ana and Constantine are watching. The former Countess of Chaos, now goes by Celestia, has tears in her eyes.

Constantine notices. "You're not getting teary eyed, are you pet?"

"Nope."

He smirks. _"Sure,_ you aren't." Constantine watches the couple exchange their vows. "You know, I hate to admit it but I'm glad that your sister's getting married. Poor lass has been through too much."

"And I was part of it," Ana looks away.

"Now, now pet. That's all in the past. The Fuentes family is reunited and stronger than ever."

He takes her hand and guides her away from the wedding.

"Constantine, where the hell are you taking me?"

"The Ancient Greek exhibit for some fun."

"I love the way you think," she smirks.

"Knew you would."

The other couple, Roy and Jade, watch the ceremony too. Roy's face remains stoic. Jade yawns in boredom.

"Tell me again why we're hiding Red?"

"Because I didn't want her to see us."

"You mean you don't want her to see _you_. This is because she still means something to you."

Roy glances at his wife with a raised brow. "Are you jealous?"

"No but you need to let her go Roy. I think the real reason why we're hiding is so you can control yourself from barreling down the aisle objecting the union. If you did that, Mia will never forgive you for the rest of her life."

The priest proclaims. "You may now kiss the bride."

They watch Evan and Mia kiss. It's official. The two are finally husband and wife. The guests go wild when Evan dips his wife and kisses her passionately.

Wally shouts. "Get a room!"

Mia cranes her neck. "Technically, we're already in one. You just happen to be in it."

Roy can't watch anymore and leaves. Jade stays behind for a bit longer. She watches the newly married couple walk back down the aisle. The assassin even smiles a little.

"Not bad Amelia. Not bad at all."


	15. Real Babysitting Pt 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own YJ, they belong to DC. I own my OCs!**

 _ **Palo Alto**_

 _ **March 16, 19:01 PDT**_

"Wally, have you seen Lian? I can't find her."

"Babe, she's sleeping on the sofa with Buster," Wally says from the kitchen.

Artemis goes to check on her niece. The minute she lays eyes on her, she knows something's wrong. Her skin's paler than usual and cheeks are a little rosy.

"Lian?" Artemis checks the little one's forehead. _"Damn it she's got a fever."_ "Wally, where's the first aid kit? Lian's sick."

Wally speeds to the bathroom. He stands next to her with the kit. The speedster checks her temperature.

The thermometer beeps. "102.5. Your sister's going to kill me!"

Wally begins to freak out. He never thinks straight when someone falls ill. Artemis grabs him by his shoulders.

"Wally!"

"What woman?" he shouts.

"I want you to call Mia. I'm sure she knows what to do. In the meantime, I'm going to take Lian and hopefully the steam from the shower helps," she speaks as calmly as possible.

"Yeah, yeah I can do that. Gotta call Mia."

As Wally fumbles for his phone, Artemis takes Lian and proceeds to the bathroom where it'll turn into a makeshift sauna. He dials the number. After two rings, Mia picks up.

'Hey Wally.'

"What do I do when someone gets a fever?" Wally speed yells.

No response. Wally checks his phone to see if the call got dropped. Not a second later, Mia pops in the living room wearing only a sports bra and yoga pants; it's laundry day.

"What happened? How sick is Art? Speak man!" Mia exclaims.

"You have to help. We don't know what we're doing."

"Wait a second. 'We'?"

Artemis walks back into the living room with a coughing Lian in her arms. The Latina's eyes widen. Her gaze turns to her cousin as they burn intensely.

"I _know_ you two didn't just had a kid without telling anyone, _especially_ me."

Artemis _was_ going to explain but doesn't get the chance as Mia begins her assault on Wally. _"I'll just wait til she's done."_

"Ow! Mia!"

"How could you not tell me you two had a kid?! Thanks a lot primo!"

"Mia."

"Yes Art?" Mia pauses her assault.

"This is Lian and she's not ours."

" _Right_ and I'm the Queen of the Lava People. C'mon Art! How else would you explain the American/Vietnamese ginger baby? She's adorable by the way."

"Well, she's actually Jade's and…"

"Well? Who's the father?"

"Roy. This is their daughter."

* * *

Boom! Bomb drops. Having been told that, another crack appears on the glass.

"Aw, she still has feelings for him. This'll be good," a voice laughs evilly.

* * *

" _That mofo had a kid and didn't tell me?! The next time I see him, I'm going to strangle him with my bare hands."_ "Well…nice of him to tell me. Now," she clears her throat "Hand over the tiny ginger and I'll do the rest. You two just relax."

Artemis hands over a fussy Lian. Mia holds onto the toddler and coos. She sings a Spanish lullaby to help soothe her. The Latina ends up spending the night leaving Evan to do the laundry. She stays awake in case Lian needed something.

Wally and Artemis sleep. Lian's still awake. Mia takes this as an opportunity to teach the little one some Spanish. She speaks softly so she won't wake up the sleeping couple.

"You know, since Art's your aunt and Wally's practically your uncle that makes me your aunt because Wally's my cousin. And since you're my niece, you have to learn Spanish. How does that sound?"

Lian smiles and claps.

"Ok we're going to start off with some easy stuff. Sí means yes. Can you say sí?"

"Shee."

"Close enough," Mia shrugs. "Now say tia which means aunt. Tee-a."

"Tee-a."

"Awesome! Now Mia. Mee-a."

"Mee-a."

"Say it together now. Tia Mia."

"Timi!" Mia just laughs at Lian's silliness. "Timi!"

"Guess I'm stuck with that name huh?"

"Timi!"

"Let's get you to bed so we can get rid of that nasty fever."

She puts her to bed. The woman barely sleeps a wink. Morning arrives. Wally walks into the kitchen. His eyes glance over to the living room where he spots Mia still up and a sleeping Lian.

"Mi, did you stay up the whole night?"

Mia looks over with a sleepy smile. "Yeah. I didn't want to fall asleep in case something happened."

"Want some breakfast?"

"Please. I could eat as much as you right now and that's saying something."

"Coming right up. Coffee?"

"Black with 3 shots of espresso."

"On it."

Wally manages to not make a racket in the kitchen. A little later, Artemis wakes up and walks over to Mia's side.

"You look like crap."

"Thanks. You look like you rolled off the other side of the bed. Took a nasty fall did you?" her British accent coming to play.

Whenever she's sleep deprived, her British accent comes out. It's thanks to spending so much time with Daniel when she was younger and continues to remain in contact with him.

After breakfast, Mia checks on Lian's temperature one last time. It's back to normal. In case it spikes again, she hands Artemis the instructions.

"Follow this to the letter and you guys will be fine."

"Thanks for the help Mia," Artemis smiles.

"Don't worry about it. She's family anyway."

"See ya later cuz."

"Ditto." Mia smiles at Lian. "Adios princessa."

"Timi!"

"Did she just—"

"Taught her some Spanish. Bye!" she teleports back to Central City.


	16. Depth

**Disclaimer: I do not own YJ, they belong to DC. I own my OCs.**

 _ **Palo Alto**_

 _ **March 19, 08:12 PDT**_

'Next on Godfrey's bonehead list, the launch of Ferris Aircraft's new Earth-Mars communication satellite. That's right, folks. It's not enough we've been invaded by aliens. Now we're going out of our way to contact them! My friends…if you're asking, "What's wrong with this picture", you're not alone. That's why old G. Gordon's…'

"I'm ready."

'Jumping on a plane to Florida to get to the bottom—'

Having heard enough of Gordon's annoying voice, Wally turns off the TV. Artemis walks over to the couch with a duffle bag on her shoulder. Wally stands up.

"I'm not happy about this."

"As I recall, you were wearing yellow and red just a few weeks ago."

"That was an emergency! I was needed."

"Well, I'm needed now."

"He shouldn't need you. He's my best friend. He knows we're trying to leave the life behind."

"Don't blame Nightwing. The decision was mine," she kisses him. "Babe, you're freaking out over nothing. What could go wrong?"

"At least I know Mia's got you covered."

 _ **Cape Canaveral**_

 _ **March 19, 21:22 EDT**_

Nightwing was performing CPR on Artemis.

"28, 29, 30."

"Come on Art," Mia whispers.

"She's dead."

"No."

An endless stream of tears falls down her cheeks.

 _ **Mount Justice**_

 _ **March 19, 11:42 EDT**_

 _ **Ten hours earlier**_

"They're both gonna wind up our responsibility, aren't they?" Mal complains.

"Not necessarily. Bart, Impulse, is staying with Jay and Joan Garrick in Central City. He stays with Mia and Evan too. Roy, the original Speedy, is recuperating at Royal Memorial Hospital in Star City. Arrows Green and Red are watching over him," Nightwing explains.

"Mm-hmm. They're both gonna wind up our responsibility," Mal concludes.

"Doesn't everything? I mean where are we on identifying the Light's new partner?" Connor asks.

Nightwing sighs. "No progress."

Someone giggling grabs his attention. Turns out, it's M'gann and La'gaan.

"La'gaan, don't eat so fast."

"I can't help it, Angelfish. The idea of cooking crabs is amazing enough, but making them into little cakes?"

"Heh! You're gonna choke," M'gann warns.

"If only," Connor mutters.

"Here, let me," she feeds her boyfriend.

"Mmm. If that's not true love, I don't know what is…chum," he smugly looks at Connor.

"Call me when it's time for the briefing," Connor leaves.

"Recognized: Artemis, B08. Blink, B04."

Both girls walk in already in their suits.

"Time for the briefing," Nightwing smiles.

"Artemis!"

"Hi, M'gann!"

"Whoa!" La'gaan catches the plate of crab cakes.

The girls hug.

"How's Wally?"

"He's…Wally."

"Oh, come on M'gann. You saw her at my wedding nearly a week ago," Mia complains.

"Well, it was too much fun that I didn't get to properly say hi to her and everything," M'gann reasons.

"Whatever you say Meg."

"Welcome back, girl."

"Hey, Mal!"

"We have so missed you around here."

"Connor!"

"I relish this opportunity to finally fight beside you, archer."

"Um…thanks, La'gaan?"

" _He just had to ruin the moment."_ "Nice "welcome back" speech Fishsticks. No need to be proper 24/7," Mia teases.

He growls. Connor shoots her a grateful smile. She winks in return.

"Ok, Gamma squad, listen up. The mission Cape Canaveral-covert op to safeguard the first Earth-Mars com sat. There are people out there who don't even like the idea of aliens and will do anything to scrub this launch."

Artemis notes M'gann's reaction to what Nightwing says. She lays a hand on her shoulder, "But that's why I came back, because not all of us feel that way."

"So why are you going?" Mal asks Nightwing.

"Let's just say that after running this team for a year, I'm peckish for a little action."

"Of course, you are. Now all of us agreed that plan B is for me to teleport the com sat into space in case an attack happens," Mia confidently states.

Everyone except La'gaan practically yell, "No."

"Just making sure you were paying attention. It's still an option tho—"

"NO."

 _ **Cape Canaveral**_

 _ **March 19, 20:59 EDT**_

"And we are officially at T-minus one hour and counting. Now, we do have time for a few questions. Yes, Miss…Godfrey."

"Miss Ferris, maybe I'm the only one not drinking the space cola, but has anyone asked whether Earth wants more communication with aliens?"

"Our galaxy contains billions of stars, yet Earth and Mars are warmed by the same Sun. The Martians aren't aliens. They're our next door neighbors. Isn't it time we got to know them?"

"So that's your plan—borrow a cup of Martian sugar while our world is being invaded!"

"If I may," J'onn walks to the podium. "All the more reason both worlds must stand together. This satellite represents a new spirit of cooperation between sister planets, the beginning of an alliance that can protect us al,l" he states.

"Thank you, Martian Manhunter. On behalf of Ferris Aircraft and the Earth-Mars communication initiative, we couldn't agree more."

J'onn nods and flies away.

"That's it? No more questions for the mighty Manhunter? Tell old G. Gordon that name doesn't sound ominous to any decent Earthling and did you notice the Kryptonian's not taking any questions at all?"

"J'onn" and "Superman" leave the area.

"We are out of sight," turns out J'onn's really M'gann.

"Good. Let's just get to the Bioship. I don't like you levitating me to fake the power of flight."

"You're welcome." M'gann sighs. "Connor, you know we have to maintain the illusion that Superman, Manhunter, and the other Leaguers who went into space are still on Earth. We can't let our enemies know how shorthanded the Justice League is right now."

As they approach the Bioship, Connor groans.

"I hate monkey suits."

* * *

Meanwhile, Nightwing, Mia and Artemis are on the lookout for suspicious activity.

"If nothing else, we have a nice view."

"It _is_ beautiful. God, I wish I brought my art supplies."

"Miss M, link us up."

"Link established."

"Good. Begin aerial sweep of the Cape's perimeter."

"Hey, boss, I'd be happy to join my Angelfish on that assignment."

"Oh, gag me with a spoon," Mia states.

"Negative, Lagoon Boy. You're right where I need you, giving me maximum coverage-in the water, on land, and in the air—in case there's any attempt at sabotage."

* * *

"And so I'm stereotyped as the water guy again. Meanwhile, she flies the friendly skies with super ex-boyfriend. Neptune's beard!" he complains.

* * *

Unknown to Gamma, a Manta Flyer sets down a machine on the ocean floor. The henchmen swim out from the Flyer and begin to power the machine up.

* * *

"Missile launcher locked. We're go in 5."

"T-minus 52 minutes and counting. All systems go for launch."

Alarms begin blaring around the compound signaling everyone the rocket will launch soon.

"I know I'm not Wally's favorite person right now, but it is nice to have you back."

"As much as it pains me, I agree with him. It really is nice Art."

"It's nice to be back. I didn't realize how much I'd been missing it, which is pretty much exactly what Wally's afraid of. He's worried the rush that comes with the mask will get its hooks in, and I won't give it up until my dying day."

"I know exactly what you mean."

"And Wally does have every reason to worry. Hell, to give him a peace of mind, I promised him to watch your six and you know I never break a promise."

"I know Mia," Artemis smiles.

* * *

It's awkward in the Bioship.

"So now we're never talking again?"

"Gee, you read my mind."

"I don't have to read your mind to know how you feel, Connor, but the break up was your idea."

"Don't pretend you don't know why," Connor turns his seat around to face his ex.

"I know, I know. You disapprove of how I use my psychic powers."

"You mean how you abuse them, ripping intel from the minds of your victims with no concern for what it does to their psyches!"

"They're not victims. They're the bad guys. That information is helping the Team, the League, the entire planet."

"And leaving your victims in a catatonic state. It's not right, M'gann. You're behaving no better than Psimon!"

Her eyes narrow. "If you feel that strongly, why not tell Nightwing or the League? You already told Mia about it."

"She needed to know and I was hoping I mattered enough to you to make you stop. I didn't think you'd try to tamper with my mind, try to make me forget I was upset with you."

"Connor, I'm so sorry about that."

"Sorry you did it or sorry you got caught?" He turns back facing the window, "After all we'd been through, how could you think I wouldn't recognize your touch inside my mind? Didn't you know what that touch meant to me? And to have you pervert it like that…guess I was kidding myself. I mean, how replaceable was I? Two minutes after I end it, you're dating the rebound guy from the Black Lagoon."

"L'gaan is not my rebound guy."

"Well, lucky La'gaan."

* * *

La'gaan spots something in the water.

"Whoa. Heads up, minnows. We got bad guys: Black Manta's troopers working some kind of platform beneath the surface just offshore. I'm taking them down."

"Belay that. Wait for back up."

"I'll scrounge a rebreather from the cargo hold and help the rookie out," Connor says.

"Rookie? Neptune's beard. I don't need any help from the Boy of Steel," La'gaan attacks Manta's troopers.

"Lagoon Boy, stand down."

"Sorry, you're breaking up," he makes static noise.

"There's no static on a psychic link."

"I can help. I don't need a rebreather," Mia offers.

"No. You're staying where I can keep an eye on you."

"Excuse me? Look, I'm not some child you have to babysit. Just because I recently got married doesn't mean I'm not fit to go on missions."

"I made a promise."

"To who? Evan? Barry? My brothers? Wally? Who? Who did you promise?"

"Myself," Nightwing sighs, "I promised myself that I would get you home to Evan no matter what."

Mia's stunned. _"Oh Dick."_

"Sorry to interrupt but we got company," Artemis points out.

Manta troopers begin arriving on the beach. Artemis fires an arrow creating a zip line from the tower they're stationed to the ground. The troopers spot them and begin open fire. Going down the zip line, they dodge the attacks and safely hide behind a wall for cover.

"Superboy, you have that rebreather?" Nightwing asks.

"Negative. La'gaan didn't restock."

"Then talk the helm. Miss Martian, gill up and help Lagoon Boy. Superboy, we need cover fire down here."

"Acknowledged. Bioship reconfigured for manual flight."

M'gann quickly shapeshifts and dives into the ocean. "La'gaan, I'm on my way."

"And when you see him, slap him for me will ya?" Mia requests.

* * *

The troopers are ready to fire at the com sat rocket when the Bioship fires at them.

"That's our cue," Artemis goes to jump over the wall when Nightwing and Mia pull her back down "Aah!"

"I know you're rusty, but are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"And if you say yes, I'm sending you back to your house."

* * *

La'gaan nearly takes out the controls when he gets electrocuted in the back. Turns out it's Kaldur who did the deed.

"Launch."

"As you command, Kaldur'ahm."

The missile's launched.

* * *

Nightwing spots the missile coming out of the water and the troopers then hides behind the wall again.

"We're on the wrong side of this wall."

"Superboy."

"On it," Connor successfully destroys the missile before it reached the com sat.

* * *

"Do we abort?"

"We are not aborting anything. Advance the countdown. Final safety checks, then launch," Ferris speeds up the countdown.

* * *

More alarms begin blaring again.

"I don't like the sound of those alarms."

"We are _really_ on the wrong side of this wall."

They try to escape but the troopers have them pin down.

"The troopers' helmets-designed to enhance vision underwater, right?"

"Yeah," Mia answers.

Artemis fires an arrow into the sky. The arrow explodes shining a bright light causing momentary blindness to the troopers. As they're incapacitated, the trio manage to hop over the wall just before the rocket launches.

"Move!" Nightwing shouts.

"No need to tell me twice," Mia responds.

* * *

The troopers bring La'gaan to Kaldur.

"Sir, you should have the honor of killing him."

"No. He's a perfect specimen for our partner. Take him to the Flyer. If the mission fails, rendezvous as planned."

"Our first missiles were shot down and the ground assault-our helmets have become a liability."

"Launch all missiles, maximum rate of fire. I'll take charge of the ground assault personally," Kaldur takes off his helmet and swims for the surface.

* * *

Another missile launches which is quickly destroyed by the Bioship. Turning his head, Connor sees yet _another_ missile breaking the water's surface. He frowns, _"I'm so done with these missiles."_

* * *

Meanwhile on the beach, the trio are knocking down Manta troopers left and right. Mia's just finishes when she sees a trooper pull out a knife to stab Artemis. Before she moves, Nightwing's already on it. Luckily, Artemis spots the guy and quickly takes him out. Mia sighs in relief and goes to join them.

Artemis shrugs. "What? I'm not that rusty."

"Could've fooled me," Mia smirks.

Artemis stops to stare at the ocean. Mia's about to ask when she sees the same thing as Artemis. Nightwing frowns and turns to see what the girls are seeing. It's Kaldur, making his way onto the beach.

* * *

M'gann arrives at the location of the platform. She sees troopers taking La'gaan into the Flyer.

"They've taken La'gaan. I'm going after him."

"Priority is the missiles," Connor states as he destroys more missiles. "There are too many! I'm not keeping up."

So she makes a decision. M'gann goes after the platform. Using her telekinesis underwater, she's able to knock down the troopers. One of them manages to launch one last missile before M'gann knocks him out. She turns the missile back into the water and aims it at the platform. It's quickly destroyed but M'gann gets caught in the shock wave.

"La'gaan," M'gann passes out.

"Meg? Meg!" Mia shouts.

* * *

Kaldur reaches the beach. The trio stand ready.

"Kaldur, you don't have to do this," Artemis reasons.

"I believe I do."

"No, you don't!" Mia shouts.

Kaldur takes out his water bearers and forms a giant water snake. He sends it at them. The snake catches the girls.

* * *

"All systems go."

"Launch."

The rocket boosters ignite and begin soaring into the air. Everyone cheers that the rocket makes it past the pad.

"Well done."

* * *

Kaldur's shocked to see the com sat launch. His demeanor changes.

"The mission may yet succeed."

A small missile launcher from his shoulder fires a missile at the com sat. Artemis shot an arrow at it. Both the arrow and small missile are destroyed.

"No rust on me."

"That's true," Mia agrees.

"Artemis, behind you!" Nightwing yells.

Nightwing goes to attack Kaldur but the Atlantian knocks him off to the side with the sledgehammers made by his water bearers.

"My turn," Mia says as she sprints towards Kaldur.

She throws a punch but he catches it with his hand. They glare at each other. Mia's eyes are hard but still holds compassion for her former "brother."

"Come on Kal. This isn't you," Mia whispers.

"It is now," his voice cold and distant.

His eyes, though, flash an emotion close to notices. Before she says a word, Kaldur electrocutes her.

"This…isn't…you."

Kaldur amps up the voltage. Mia lets out an ear piercing scream before finally slumping onto the sand. Every other second, Mia twitches due to the electricity in her body. With Mia down for the count at the moment, Kaldur goes to take on Artemis. He manages to kick her bow from her hands. In retaliation, Artemis throws a punch at him but he gets her instead. She gasps.

"Welcome back," Kaldur pulls out a water knife he stabs her with.

Artemis staggers back a little.

"Artemis!" Nightwing shouts.

His shouting wakes Mia up. She groggily sits up.

"What's going on? What's…" she watches Artemis clutching her chest, "Happened."

Nightwing catches Artemis and lays her down onto the sand gently. "I got you. Hang on."

"Move out. The mission is a failure." The rocket containing the com sat explodes. "We are done here."

"Kaldur, what did you do?" Mia softly asks. He ignores her. "What did you do?!"

Once again, he ignores her and dives into the water. Mia wants to go after him when she remembers about Artemis. _"Oh no."_ Connor jumps down from the Bioship and lands next to Mia. He helps her up then make their way to Artemis and Nightwing. M'gann flies out of the water and reaches the group.

"I…I don't hear her heartbeat."

"No…no, check again Con," Mia urges.

"28, 29, 30." Nightwing performs CPR. All of them wait. "She's dead."

"No, she's not."

Mia pushes Nightwing out of the way and performs CPR on her. _"She can't be dead. I promised Wally that I had her six. He's never going to forgive me for this."_ Her vision's blinded by the tears free falling down her face.

"Mia," she doesn't stop, "Mia, she's dead."

"No."

"Amelia," Nightwing places a hand on her shoulder.

Mia finally stops. No one uses her actual name unless someone she knows died. Hearing Nightwing call her name, Mia knows it's true. She sits on the beach with a blank expression as more tears begin trickling down her cheeks. Inside her mind, the barrier shatters into a million pieces. The whole place goes black. A voice speaks out form the darkness.

"Ah. It's good to be back."

 _ **Atlantic Ocean**_

 _ **March 20, 00:00 EDT**_

The Manta Flyer meets up with the larger Flyer. When it's docked, Black Manta's there to greet his son.

"Congratulations, Kaldur'ahm. You had quite a day. Capturing the Atlantian, killing a former teammate, destroying the com sat."

"My crew did not destroy the com sat, Father. It's rocket must have malfunctioned. Our victory was mere luck."

"I don't believe in luck…which is why I arranged to have a bomb with an altitude sensor smuggled onto the com sat rocket days ago. This was your final test—to see if you would take credit for what you had not accomplished."

"And what if I had succeeded?"

"Then another test would have awaited you. For it is not in success where true character is revealed, but in failure," he takes off his helmet, "I'm quite proud of you, my boy. You're ready for the next level."

 _ **Mount Justice**_

 _ **March 20, 03:50 EDT**_

The Bioship lands in the hanger. No one says a word. Mia still has the same blank expression on her face as she did back on the beach. Nightwing's worried about her so when M'gann and Connor left, he squats in front of her and lays a hand on her knee.

"Mia? You ok?" She doesn't respond. "Mia, please say something. Anything."

Her mouth opens whispering only five words, "Wally will never forgive me."

His eyes widen with shock. Before he has the chance to tell her that it isn't true, she brushes him off to the side and leaves the Bioship. He quickly snaps out of his stupor and runs after her.

Nightwing quickly spots Miguel and Tulio. He recaps what happened during the mission. They leave to go after their sister without having any time to mourn for their teammate/cousin's girlfriend.

 _ **March 20, 03:58 EDT**_

Everyone in the Cave iss mourning over the death of Artemis. Connor wants to comfort M'gann but thinks otherwise. Instead, Garfield goes to comfort his sister. Mal and Karen walk over to Connor.

"We'll find La'gaan…and Aqualad."

"No doubt. Where's Nightwing? He should be here."

Connor sighs. "He went to tell Wally."

Karen notices they're missing a certain Latina.

"Where's Mia?"

"She's…she's been quiet the entire time. The Twins took her back to her place. Evan should be arriving there soon," Connor answers. _"Please don't let it be like that time."_

 _ **Bludhaven**_

 _ **March 20, 04:00 EDT**_

Nightwing's waiting in a warehouse by the docks. He's looking at an old picture he took of the two of them on Artemis' first day at Gotham Academy.

"We'll laugh about this someday." There's a clattering noise. He puts the picture away. "Wally?"

"No," Kaldur appears.

Wally shows up. A hooded figure appears as well. Lowering the hood, the person turns out to be Artemis, who's indeed still alive.

"I take it our ruse was successful."

"Almost too successful. The Team and the Leauge are in mourning. They may never forgive us." _"Not even Mia."_

"And still only we 4 know the secret?" Kaldur asks.

"This secret and the other—that you've been under deep cover within Black Manta's organization since leaving the Team. How'd it go on that end?"

"Successful as well. I've proven my loyalty to my biological father. He is moving me up the ladder, bringing me closer to the Light and their unknown partner."

"Not without cost, Kaldur. The com sat wasn't supposed to be destroyed, and La'gaan definitely wasn't supposed to be captured."

"It was the only way to save his life and maintain my cover."

"I'm not blaming you. I know you've been forced to make impossible decisions…like choosing between saving the Kroloteans on Malina Island—"

"Or saving my friends. And I will find a way to help La'gaan. You have my word."

"I still think we should've told Mia," Wally states. "Her brothers called me about her being silent. Dick, it's the same from five years ago when she learned her foster parents had been murdered. Remember that?"

"I do."

"Then why not tell her?"

"We couldn't do that to her Wally. Mia needed to get out of this life more than anyone. If she knew what we were doing, she would completely shut us down before we even began," Nightwing reasons.

"If she was supposed to stay out then why is she back in? Look what's happened to her since she came back. Mia shouldn't have helped you at the beginning of this year and if she learns what we did, she'll never forgive any of us."

"So what now?" Artemis asks.

Nightwing walks up to her and places a necklace with a gem around her neck.

"Uh, dude, why are you giving bling to my dead girlfriend?"

"Glamour charm, courtesy of Zatanna. Physiomorphic spell, I think. She said it backwards."

"Wow, you look…exactly the same," Wally tells Artemis.

"To the four of us, and only us. But to anyone else, you're an entirely different person."

"The more impressive trick is how you got something so specific from Zatanna without revealing who or what it was for."

"We have a history."

Wally elbows him in the arm. "Dog."

"It is time."

The couple hug then kiss one last time

"What could go wrong?" Wally jokes.

"Heh! Don't say that."

Artemis leaves with Kaldur. Wally and Dick watch them enter the Flyer from on top of the warehouse.

"We're through the hard part. They're in."

"Who are you kidding? It only gets more dangerous from here." _"I hope Mia is ok."_

 _ **Central City**_

 _ **March 20, 03:00 CDT**_

Evan was working late when he gets the call from Miguel about Artemis being dead and Mia is back at the apartment not responding to anyone. He rushes back to the apartment. Unlocking the front door, Evan runs in shouting.

"Mia!" She doesn't respond. "MIA!"

He hears footsteps. His head turns to the hallway leading to the bedroom seeing the silhouette of his wife leaning against the archway. Turning on the lights, Evan gets a good look at his wife and instantly frowns. _"Something's not right here."_ He's right.

Mia's holding her old League of Shadows knife in her hands. She's smiling but it's cruel and evil. What really sends a chill down his spine are his wife's eyes. The once bright and joy filled eyes, he loves so much have turned dull and darker.

"Hi there hubby."

"You're not Mia."

She laughs. "Oops. Looks like the cat's out of the bag."

Speaking of cats, Evan spots Lola passed out on the couch. She notes his worried expression.

"Don't worry. She's only sleeping."

"What do you want?"

"I've been waiting half a decade for the chance to be free and now I am thanks to Artemis' death."

" _What did she mean by being free?"_ Realization hits Evan like a ton of bricks, "Labiwa."

She smiles sadistically. "In the flesh."


	17. Labiwa Returns

**Disclaimer: I don't own YJ, they belong to DC. I own my OCs!**

 _ **Central City**_

 _ **March 20, 03:01 CDT**_

Evan pulls out his gun. Labiwa shakes her head disappointingly.

"You're going to shoot your own wife? And if you succeed in killing me, what then? You'll lose not only the love of your life but your job and everyone's trust. They'll brand you as a wife killer and you'll never find a job for the rest of your miserable life."

She has a point. Evan slowly places the gun on the floor and kicks it away. The assassin smiles.

"Much better. Now, have a seat hubby there's no need to be so tense."

"I'd rather stand if you don't mind."

"That's fine with me since I'm going to kill you anyway."

"Why would you do that?" he asks calmly.

Evan figures if he can keep her talking someone will arrive shortly to help. Preferably Miguel or Tulio or both. When he figured it wasn't his wife, he triggered the silent alarm. Hopefully someone receives it and comes soon.

"I figured that if I kill you now then Mia will be so devastated she won't be able to resist me and will simply vanish from existence. Now," she grips the handle of the League of Shadows knife. "Hold still and I'll make this as painless as possible."

"Sure but only when pigs fly."

Before Labiwa advances, a sudden gush of wind bursts into the apartment. Bart, of all people, shows up.

"Hey Uncle Evan, I was wondering if you've seen tia cause she wasn't at the Cave."

"Bart, buddy, I need you to leave and grab your uncles," Evan says calmly.

"Why?"

"Because little speedster," Bart turns to Labiwa. "Your auntie's gone and she's never coming back."

Bart laughs, "Wow, I never pegged you guys as the joking type."

"Bart this isn't a joke. Leave now while you can."

"C'mon, she can't catch me. I'm much too quick."

Bart zips around the apartment to prove his point. Evan keeps his eyes on Labiwa. He's not liking how quiet she is. Like a cobra strike, Labiwa snatches Bart and holds the knife to his throat. She presses it a little harder just enough to break the skin. A small trickle of blood falls down from the wound.

Evan surrenders. "Look, the boy has nothing to do with this. It's just between you and me. Just let him go."

"Now, why would I do that? If I do then he's going to run and get back up. We don't want that now do we?"

"Uh…Uncle Evan?" his voice cracks.

His uncle musters up the most sincerest smile he can. "Don't worry Bart. Everything's going to be fine."

"But…I…the knife and…"

"Hey, hey, hey. Keep your eyes on me okay? I promise you that you're going to be fine. Just keep looking at me. Can you do that?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Attaboy."

"As much as I love this touching bonding moment, it's time to say night-night little speedster."

She doesn't get the chance to slice Bart's throat. Her body's stuck in one place. The assassin laughs maniacally.

" 'Ello Danny boy. Why don't you come out to play?"

Daniel appears from the kitchen. He got here as fast as he could the minute the barrier went down. The British telepath was going to confront her but Evan arrived and his plan went out the window.

"Hello you bloody snake."

"I told you I'd be back."

"Git boy."

"No need to tell me twice."

Bart zips over to Evan's side. He even stands a little behind his uncle. Can't really blame the kid though. Finding out your aunt has a literal split personality and it's an evil assassin with no remorse can do that to you. _"What's going on?"_

"Mia, luv, I need you to fight back for me now. I don't know how long I can keep her like this."

"Nice try but she's nearly gone. I can feel it," Labiwa smiles cruelly.

"Mia!" Evan yells.

"Tia!"

* * *

Deep in the mind, Mia's curled into a fetal position; broken and defeated. The whole place slowly falls into darkness.

"What's the point? I lost the closest thing I have to a sister. She's gone and it's all my fault because I couldn't keep my promise to Wally."

"That's right. Now, why don't you sleep? Sleep is good," Labiwa coos.

As she was about to close her eyes for good, someone shouts her name.

Mia sits up. "Who said that?"

'Mia, Labiwa's out. Fight her.'

"Daniel?"

'Honey, she held Bart at knife point. She's planning on killing us.'

"Evan? Wait, what?!"

Mia stood up. Everything turns white. Labiwa materializes in front of her.

"You bitch. What did you do to my husband and nephew?"

"Well, I _was_ planning on murdering them so I could take control but Danny boy had other plans."

"I'm done treating myself like crap. You're going back behind the barrier."

"That's never gonna happen."

"And why's that?"

Labiwa smirks. "Because Danny boy's not strong enough to create another one. I've grown too powerful."

Mia falls into silence. She comes up with a plan.

"How about we make a deal?"

"What kind of deal?" the assassin raises a brow.

* * *

Back in the real world, Evan, Bart and Daniel are on edge when Labiwa suddenly went quiet. A few minutes pass when she talks again but this time, it's Mia.

"Evan? Oh thank god you're okay."

"Daniel, is that Mia?"

Daniel reads her mind. He smiles.

"It's her."

The psychic hold disappears. Husband and wife embrace each other. Mia looks over at Bart. Tears sting her eyes.

"I'm so sorry Bart. She didn't hurt you, did she?"

Thanks to his accelerated healing, the wound on his throat is gone. He already wiped the blood away.

" _I can't tell her what really happened."_ "Nah. She couldn't slice me if she tried."

"Thank god," Mia mutters.

She pulls Bart into the embrace. Evan joins. They kept him locked in as if their lives depended on it. Daniel checks on Mia's mind to see if Labiwa's gone. Imagine his surprise when she's not. Evan notices the face. He breaks the embrace first.

"Hey Bart, why don't you spend the night? Let's watch some TV in the bedroom."

"Sure."

They leave. Mia faces Daniel. Judging by the look on his face, she knows she has _a lot_ to explain.

"Here's the thing."


	18. Satisfaction

**Disclaimer: I do not own YJ, they belong to DC. I own my OCs.**

 _ **Star City**_

 _ **March 21, 14:22 PDT**_

Inside Royal Memorial Hospital, the real Roy's getting a wake up call.

"So, let me get this straight. While I was on ice, you found another Roy Harper, the sidekicks formed their own team, aliens invaded the Earth, and Ollie grew that dopey goatee?"

"We try not to call ourselves sidekicks."

"You don't like the goatee?"

"So missing the point! You've both been talking around it all day. Now, I want answers. What happened to me? How can there be another Roy Harper? And what happened to my arm?"

Before anyone answers, the door opens as a voice speaks out.

"Damn, I can hear you yelling all the way down the hall."

The trio turn their heads to see Mia walk in.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Mia," Oliver smiles.

He walks over and gives her a big hug.

"Hi Ollie."

"Oh, I've missed you."

"You saw me at the wedding Ollie," she smiles.

"Well that was the wedding but you and Evan have to come by for dinner soon."

"Of course. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Excuse me."

She looks to the original. "You're not excused. You can wait an extra minute punk."

He looks to the other Roy, "Who is she?"

"She's our…I mean my ex."

After greeting Oliver, she greets the Roy she knows. She goes on her toes and kisses his cheek smiling.

"Hi."

He smiles back. "Hi."

"Ex huh?" she slaps the original on the back of the head, "Ow!"

"Watch your tone before I send you inside a volcano."

"Whatever. Now tell me what happened to my arm before we were interrupted," Mia slaps him again. "Ow!"

"Okay, okay. We wanted to wait until you were strong enough, but I guess the moment's here," Roy takes a seat by the bedside.

Mia rests a hand on his shoulder showing him she supports him. Unconsciously, Roy grabs her hand and holds on tight. _"Thank god Mia's here. I don't think I could tell him on my own."_

"Moment's past. Get to it."

"So ungrateful," Mia mutters.

"What's the last thing you remember before we found you in Tibet?"

"I've been trying to piece that together. I remember investigating a Lexcorp shell company that we suspected of smuggling weapons to Northralaysia. Some Lexcorp goons got the drop on me. I remember feeling…embarrassed then, nothing."

Oliver walks to the other side of the bed. "That's right. They grabbed you," he sighs.

" _Come on Ollie."_ Mia silently urges.

She squeezes Roy's hand. He squeezes back.

"Thing is, Roy, that was 8 years ago."

"What?"

"Lex Luthor and the Light, this criminal organization he works with, abducted you. They amputated your arm."

"Why? To keep me from using my bow?"

"No. They needed an endless supply of your DNA to perfect their human cloning process," Roy explains.

He looks to his amputated arm then to his clone. "So that's what you are—a clone."

" _I don't like his tone."_ Mia frowns. Her grip on Roy's shoulder slightly increases in intensity.

"Yeah. They grew me—or rather force grew me. They programmed me with all your memories and skills and…and worse."

Mia uses her other hand to gently rub Roy's back silently telling him it's all in the past now. Roy internally sighs as he's grateful Mia's there with him. _"I've missed her."_

"Then they spoon-fed me clues to your location. I thought I was doing detective work, but in hindsight…" Oliver sighs, "You'd been missing 3 months. I'd been going crazy. So when I found you—him—I didn't question the good fortune. I had no idea it wasn't the real, the original, you. No idea Luthor had stored you on ice all this time."

"So what you're saying is...you took my place." Mia digs her nails into Roy's shoulder at the original's accusation. Roy can feel her nails but tries his best not to flinch at the pain. "You've been living my life for 8 years."

"And he's been tirelessly searching for you for 5 of those years."

"Huh. But not you, Ollie. You gave up on me."

By this time Mia's fuming with rage. Roy eases himself out of Mia's grip and stands up.

"I don't want to be the cause of more conflict between you two. I'd understand if you never wanted to lay eyes on me again."

"I don't know. Seems to me the clone didn't do anything wrong. He didn't ask to be created. Plus, he found me. I can't blame him for this," he glares at Oliver. "But I can totally blame you!"

"Roy, I—"

"We were partners! Friends! How could you not know I'd been replaced? How could you leave me in Luthor's hands for 8 years? And how did I not see how useless you are?"

"That's enough!" all eyes turn to Mia, "You have no right to talk to Ollie like that."

"Mia, maybe you should—"

She looks at Roy. "Shut it Harper. I've been silent long enough. I stayed quiet while this little punk accused you for stealing his life but I won't allow him to place his blame on Oliver," Mia looks back to the original. "Listen here you little piece of shit. Don't you dare blame any of this on Oliver. You don't know what he's been through or any of us just to find your sorry little ass! After learning that Harper was a clone, do you know what I did? Nothing because I didn't care that he was a clone, I only cared about him and his well-being. I still do after all these years."

Roy's eyes widen with shock. _"I still care about you too Mia."_ He doesn't dare say it out loud at the moment.

"You should be grateful that all of us and our friends were searching for you. So what do you have to say about that?" _"It's because of you that my first relationship went down the drain."_

"Get out."

"Excuse me?"

"Get out!"

Oliver does. Mia doesn't.

"Oh hell no. I'm—"

Roy clamps Mia's mouth shut and holds her from behind.

"Look, uh, Roy. I need some time to process all of this."

"I understand."

He pushes Mia out the door while she struggles to get free. Once they leave the room and are down the hall, Roy lets her go.

Mia growls. "That little punk. Give me five minutes with him and I'll straighten him out."

Roy blocks her path. "It's fine Mia."

"You know I can just teleport into his room right?"

"I know but I also know you won't do it," he crosses his arms.

She sighs, "You know me too well Roy."

"You're in the same boat as me."

"True."

This is the first time since the night on the rooftop that the two of them had a civil conversation. It's rocky between them after the break up but now they have the chance to mend it. Although both are now married, they can still care for the other.

" _I guess now's the time to tell her about Lian."_ "Mia."

"Yes?"

"I want you to know that I have a daughter with Jade. Her name is Lian."

"I know."

"And I'm sorry that I…" he blinks, "You know?"

"Unless I know another little girl named Lian with red hair then I think it's the same one."

"But…but how...how did—"

"I've known for less than a week. A few days after the wedding, I get a call from Wally about someone having a high fever. Naturally I thought it was Artemis," she pauses and takes a deep breath. "So I went to their place to help since Wally can be an idiot when it comes to someone being sick. Next thing I know, Artemis tells me that Lian is her niece and that you married Jade. Thanks for inviting me by the way," she playfully scorns.

"Sorry," he shrugs smiling.

"Uh-huh. In the end, I helped out and got to play with her. She knows me as Timi."

"Timi?"

"Tia Mia. I'm trying to teach my niece some Spanish."

"You know you're not really her aunt Mia," Roy smiles.

"I am by proxy. Lian is Artemis' niece and when…if Wally married her then he would be her uncle. Since I'm his cousin, that makes me her aunt."

Roy heartily laughs. It's been a while since he laughs like this.

"You haven't changed a bit Mia."

"And I see that someone's back into shape. I'm happy that I don't have to send you into the center of the Milky Way galaxy."

"Me too."

"How's Ollie holding up?"

"He's hanging in there."

"What about you?"

"I know that my relationship with Artemis didn't start off too well," he rubs the back of his neck.

"Really? I had no idea," Mia states sarcastically.

"Ha ha. Even though it was a rocky start, we patched things up in the end."

Roy takes a step closer to Mia. Now he's towering over her but has a good vantage point of seeing her eyes clearly, the eyes he still loves. _"I never knew how much I missed her eyes."_

"And you? How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine," she lies through her teeth.

"You're lying. Come on Mia, you know you could never lie to me."

Mia huffs. "Fine. I feel like crap ok? This is just like when I learned my foster parents were murdered. I feel so empty inside and I want nothing more than to take out my emotions onto a punching bag until my knuckles break and bleed." _"I can't tell him about Labiwa. He doesn't even know about her."_

"This would be the perfect opportunity to tell him."

"Shut it."

"So mean."

Mia rubs her temple. Her head begins to hurt whenever she and Labiwa talk.

"You ok?"

"Yeah, just a headache. A very annoying one."

"I heard that!"

"Good!"

A loose strand of hair falls into her face. Unconsciously, Roy tucks it behind her hear then brushes her cheek bone with his thumb. She looks at him with surprise. He finally realizes what he's doing and immediately drops his hand.

"Sorry. Habit," he apologizes.

"It's fine."

"We should go talk to Ollie."

"Do you know where we could find him?"

"Yeah, follow me," they head towards the hospital's chapel.

The duo walk in and stand close to Oliver.

"It's a curse, isn't it, having me for a mentor? Speedy, Red Arrow, and…Artemis, the 3 of you all poster children for the "Stay Away From Green Arrow" club."

"Oh Ollie, that's not true."

He turns his head towards Mia and forces a smile. "Thanks Mia but it is."

"I may not have always shown it over the years, but I don't feel that way," Roy took a seat on Oliver's left, "Neither did Artemis and trust me, I know Roy doesn't feel that way, either. Not really. You're a good man, Ollie, so get back in there. He needs you, whether he knows it or not."

Mia rests a hand on Oliver's shoulder. He looks at her again.

"If it'll make you feel better, you can train any of my future children if they don't have any powers," Mia offers smiling.

That brought a real honest smile to Oliver's face. It feels good to know that Mia trusts him with her future children.

"Thank you Mia. It does."

The trio leave the chapel and head back to the room.

Oliver opens the door. "Roy, listen. I—"

They find the bed empty and the window open.

"You've got to be kidding me," Mia groans as she slaps her forehead.

 _ **Mount Justice**_

 _ **March 21, 17:33 EDT**_

"Aquaman has all of Atlantis on the case. He's sitting there "Searching the 7 seas for Lagoon Boy and his captors." It's a big planet, and that's a lot of water," Mal informs.

Connor rests a hand on his shoulder. "We'll find La'gaan."

"And Aqualad. I want his fish head on a platter for what he did to Artemis."

Connor sighs. "I don't suppose we're any closer to identifying the Light's new partner." Connor looks to Nightwing only to find him gone. "Nightwing? Where is everyone?"

"Well, the girls are all hitting the shower. The rest…they're down in the grotto."

"Any word from Evan about Mia?"

"Told me that she had some business in Star City and to tell Rocket she wouldn't be able to make it to the shower," Mal pauses. "I've never seen Mia like that before. She was too quiet for my taste plus she looked like she was on auto-pilot."

Connor sighs remembering when she was like that. "I've seen it before, it wasn't good. If she ever comes here, don't let her into the gym."

"Why?" Mal raises a brow.

"Just trust me on this." _"She can't go back to being that. Not again."_

* * *

Bart, Garfield, Tim and Jaime stand before Artemis' monument. There's a peaceful air around them then it's broken by the sound of Bart munching on chicken whizzies. The other three just stare at him like _Dude really?_

He swallows. "Uh, sorry. Mourning makes me hungry." _"Not really."_

Jaime grabs Bart by the scruff of his shirt and pulls him off to the side.

"You stole those freeze-dried chicken whizzies from my locker, didn't you?"

"Hey, hey, hey. Where I come from, it's not stealing. It's scavenger rights." Jaime isn't buying it. "The point is, we don't have chicken whizzies, freeze-dried or otherwise, in my era, so blame Kid Flash. He got me hooked." _"Tia does complain to Wally about that. I hope she's doing better than yesterday."_ He involuntarily swallows as he still feels the phantom pressure of the knife to his throat.

Jaime rests his hand on his forehead. "Forget I asked."

"So why is this here? I mean, it's pretty and everything, but these people are heroes. In the line of duty and all that. They should have giant statues, big, crashy memorials in the Hall of Justice or something."

"Yeah. I asked that, too. Captain Atom said the League doesn't want or need a public shrine to its fallen. But I don't know. Seems to me they just don't want to advertise we're not immortal. The handful of regular people who've seen me in action, they think I'm this guy in a new costume. The world will never know about Ted Kord's sacrifice."

"But you know and you're carrying on the grand Blue Beetle heroic tradition, right?"

"I wish. It's such a total rip. Superboy has Superman. Wonder Girl has Wonder Woman. Robin has Batman, Nightwing, and Batgirl. You've been in this era, like, what, 5 minutes, and already you have 3 Flash mentors, one who feeds you junk food, and not to mention you also have Blink and the Twin Dragons to help you out too." Bart hides the bag of chicken whizzies behind him. "But me? I never even got the chance to meet the guy who should have been my mentor."

Bart chuckles nervously. "Heh. I hear that. You know, we have more in common than you might think—our love of chicken whizzies and our Hispanic heritage, for example. Let me buy you some to replace the bag I salvaged. We'll hang at a nice taco place. It will be totally crash."

Bart ushers Jaime and they begin to leave the grotto.

"Uh, sure."

"Great! Got any money?"

 _ **Gotham City**_

 _ **March 21, 17:38 EDT**_

At the cemetery, Wally and Paula, Artemis' mother, are in front of Artemis' tombstone.

"Thank you for coming, Wally. This has been the hardest two days of my life. Harder than prison, than losing the use of my legs, than losing Jade to the life," tears already ran down her face, "I could not have survived this without you."

" _If only you knew the truth,"_ Wally thought.

"How's Mia?"

"It's…it's tough but she's tougher."

"I would like to see her again soon."

"I'll pass along the message."

In the distance, Jade's watching everything.

"We had our difference, but Artemis was my sister and I loved her. I should have taken better care of her, protected her from you, for starters."

"Yeah, well, too late for that now, little girl."

"But it's not too late to get vengeance on her killer. Aqualad is mine."

"As usual, Jade, you're missing the point. Artemis' death is an insult to our professional reputations. The son of Black Manta cannot kill Sportsmaster's daughter, not without running by me first. I can't let this stand, or everyone will think I'm a punk. You can have Aqualad. I want a reckoning with Manta."

* * *

Back in Star City, the original runs down the street then turns into an alleyway. At the end of the alley, he meets a brick wall. A small eye scanner scans his eyes.

"Recognized: Red Arrow," the doors open to reveal a weapons stash.

"So new Roy goes by Red Arrow. Wow. That's an original name," he walks in and looks around.

"Well, some things never change. Ollie's still a pack rat," he walks towards his old suit, "Wonder if he kept this out of laziness, nostalgia…or guilt."

Tossing the hat aside, he begins to change out of the hospital gown.

* * *

The trio arrive in the same alley.

"This is the only place I've maintained since Speedy's day. There are other places he might go."

"But none where he could get himself in trouble."

"Geez Oliver, can you be anymore of a cliché? I mean really, a hideout in the back of an alley hidden behind a false brick wall?"

He chuckles, "It was cool back then."

The eye scanner quickly scans Roy's eyes but it goes on the fritz.

"Recognized: Red Arrow. Error. Red Arrow already inside. Security breach. Lockout."

"That can't be good," Mia comments.

"Perfect."

"Override lockout. Green Arrow, 0-8," Oliver scans his eyes.

They make it inside. Unfortunately, the original dons his old suit and stands in front of the zeta tube.

"Roy, wait!" Oliver shouts.

"Sorry, G.A. can't let you stop me," he leaves.

A parting gift from him is his old hat and a grenade. Roy's the only one to notice it.

"I really hate that son of a—"

"Get down!"

Roy pulls both Mia and Oliver down just as the grenade explodes. The fire causes the sprinklers to go off making everything and everyone wet.

"Great. We can't follow."

"But we can find out where he went."

Roy heads down to the control panel to get the last coordinates entered. Oliver helps Mia up.

"You ok?"

She coughs. "I will be once I give him a piece of my mind."

"Come on."

The two of them head down and stand next to Roy.

"He zetaed to Metropolis."

"Metropolis? Why would he…oh, no."

"Only one reason—to get revenge on the man who stole his life and arm."

"He's going after Lex Luthor and Luthor will kill him."

"Shit," Mia curses.

 _ **Metropolis**_

 _ **March 21, 19:11 EDT**_

Luthor's in his office doing paperwork while his assistant Mercy stands behind him.

"Oh. Who knew enabling an alien invasion would entail so much paperwork?" she hands him a paper, "Oh. I see the boy has abandoned his hospital bed."

* * *

The original spots Luthor through the binoculars. He sets it down then picks up a missile launcher and sets it on his shoulder.

"Got to love modern weapons tech. easier for a one-armed man to fire a missile launcher than pull up his pants."

When the target's locked, he fires. Luthor notices the missile. The missile destroys his office.

 _ **Ivy Town**_

 _ **March 21, 19:15 EDT**_

Connor's on a bench reading when someone comes up from behind him. They put a birthday hat on him.

"Hey there, birthday boy."

"Oh, hey…hey, Wendy."

"So how old are you today?"

"Six," she blinks a few times, "I mean, 22. I turned 22 at 6 p.m., exactly," he takes off the hat.

"Wow. At either age, you look exactly the same as the day we met."

Connor looks down.

Wendy playfully shoves him. "That's a compliment, you big goof. Although even Mal outgrew wearing the Superman t-shirts when he turned 18."

"Ah. Well, not big on change."

"Or surprises, right? That's how I remember your birthday. There's no way I could forget, not with the huge surprise parties Megan threw for you year after year."

He sighs. "I hated those parties."

"Mmm. I don't buy it. You, Connor Kent, just pretended to hate them. It made Megan happy to throw them for you, so secretly, you loved it."

"You know me pretty well."

They finally realize how close they're to each other and glance away.

"So, any parties this year?"

"No. This year, you're the only one who remembered." _"Except for Mia. She delivered a present into my room with a note attached to it."_

He feels for the note in his front jacket pocket and clenches it.

" _Happy Birthday Con!_

 _You're finally six years old! I promise that soon I'll take you out to an amusement park and we'll spend the whole day there. We'll get you a button that says "I'm six today!" It'll be our inside joke ;). But seriously Connor, happy birthday. I'm not sure if everyone remembered but I sure as hell did. Now don't get into your grumpy and pouty moods, it's your birthday after all. Inside this box is your present. I hope you like it._

 _Love, Mia"_

 _ **Dakota City**_

 _ **March 21, 18:17 CDT**_

"It's Connor's birthday today. He's never had a birthday when I haven't thrown him a party."

"That's not really your job anymore, M'gann," Zatanna states.

"And with Kaldur holding La'gaan captive...I can't focus on parties."

They come upon a café where the rest of the girls are waiting.

"M'gann and Zatanna are here!" Karen announces.

"Hi! Oh, I'm so glad you could make it, you guys!" Raquel says.

"Happy bridal shower, Raquel."

"M'gann! Oh, you shouldn't have."

"Actually, it's...it's from Artemis, too. We bought it together."

All of the girls look at the empty seat that was meant for Artemis.

"What am I doing? Having this shower? How-how can we celebrate so soon after—"

"Cause Artemis would want us to celebrate."

"She'd kick our butts if we didn't," Zatanna adds. _"So would Mia."_

Raquel raises her cup, "To absent friends."

"To absent friends," everyone chorus.

"And to the bride," M'gann states.

"To the bride!"

"You're getting married girl!"

"I know! I wonder if Mia was this excited for her wedding."

"Believe me, she was. It's a shame she couldn't come," Zatanna says.

"It's okay. Mal relayed her message plus she teleported her gift to me," Raquel picks up a large box.

"What's in it?" Cassie wonders.

"No clue but this note told me not to open it until my wedding night."

"You're opening it now, aren't you?" Babs raises a brow with a smirk.

"Oh yeah."

Raquel opens the box to find another letter laying on a bed of string confetti. She puts the letter to the side and digs around inside the box. One by one, Raquel pulls out different items: a conch shell, flip flops, sun glasses, and finally sunblock.

"All you know that I love my girl Mia but I think she's finally lost it."

"Maybe you should've opened the letter first," Karen teases holding the envelope.

"Yeah, yeah." Raquel takes the envelope and opens it then begins reading the letter out loud. "It says. 'Rock, first I knew that you would open this regardless of the first note so I only wrote that just for laughs. Second, you're getting married! For my bridal shower gift to you is an all-expense paid trip to Fiji. Your wedding present will be something else. Hugs and kisses, Chica.' Oh I love my girl so much."

* * *

Back in Metropolis, smoke continues to rise into the sky.

Luthor coughs. "And that, my dear, is why I spent top dollar for a customized desk," Mercy drags him away but he stops, "I know your only concern is my safety, but there's something in here I need."

Pressing a button, the picture frame moves to reveal a hidden room. Luthor walks in and grabs a briefcase before leaving the room.

"There. That didn't take long."

'Mr. Luthor! You all right?'

"We're fine, Otis, but do me a small favor. There seems to be a would-be assassin on the roof opposite corporate HQ. Kill him for me."

* * *

A Lexcorp SWAT team reaches the location but finds no one there. The only thing there is the equipment used by the assassin.

* * *

Luthor and Mercy reach the parking garage. Mercy unlocks the door. As the two of them walk closer to the car, it explodes knocking them back a few feet.

"For a smart man, Luthor, you're pretty easy to outmaneuver. One little missile flushed you right out."

Luthor stood up. "Mr. Harper. So nice to see you again."

"Feeling's not mutual. Tell your bodyguard to disarm."

"Mercy." Luthor helps her up, "She carries no weapon," her arms turns into a gun and fires at the original, "She is a weapon."

* * *

An armored truck stops in front of a bank which is coincidentally right across from Raquel's bridal shower. Captain Cold has been waiting on the roof of the café for the truck to arrive. He fires his ice gun.

Everything between the two buildings is completely covered in ice, making it easier to steal the money. He slides down all giddy and child-like. Before he could steal the money, Captain Cold freezes when he hears a voice. **(A/N: cue rim shot)**

"Brag su rof elttab!" Zatanna chants.

Raquel destroys the ice around them thanks to her shields. The girls stand ready to battle Captain Cold. He drops his small hammer.

"I'm completely doomed, aren't I?"

"100%," Raquel states.

They go after him.

* * *

Since the stash is destroyed thanks to the original, the trio head to another location and change into their suits. Oliver has something to do for a moment and leaves the young adults by themselves. Neither say a word so when Mia begins to take off her shirt, Roy blushes heavily and looks away. She notes it and teases him about it.

"Oh, come on Harper. It's not like you haven't seen anything before."

When he looks back, her back's facing him. She pulls up her hair. When she does, Roy sees something on her left shoulder blade.

" _Did she really get a tattoo?"_ "I know I haven't seen that before."

She turns her head. "Seen what?"

"On the back of your shoulder."

Her brows scrunch together. She look at a mirror and sees it. It's unusual to say the least. The mark's an owl with one eye as a dreamcatcher and the other is the "evil eye."

Mia looks back at Roy smiling. "Oh you mean this. Funny story, this was when I was touring Europe with Evan last year. We were in Greece and an old woman came up to me saying that I have to be protected from evil. Evan thought it might be a scam to get money from tourists but I could tell that the woman was telling the truth. So we follow her and she takes us outside of the city. When we arrived, we were kidnapped."

"What?!" Roy's eyebrows shot up.

She covers her mouth with her hand as Roy begins freaking out.

"How could this happen? Were you two alright? Why didn't you call in for backup?!"

A snort escapes her lips. Roy hears it and stops to look at her. She's struggling to keep her laughter in. He pouts and glares at her.

"You two weren't really kidnapped, were you?"

She bursts out laughing. Her stomach begins hurting because she's laughing so much. After a few minutes, she wipes away a stray tear and looks back to Roy.

Mia clears her throat. "No, we weren't."

"Then why did you say you were?"

"I couldn't let the opportunity to scare you pass by."

Roy sighs. "Geez Mia. Do you have any idea what that did to my heart?" he tries calming his beating heart by taking deep breaths.

Mia smiles, "I'm sorry Roy. You know I love teasing you."

"I still don't know why you do."

"Because you're too stiff," she smiles, "You need to relax more."

He smiles. "Maybe later. Now tell me what really happened."

"So we leave the city and she takes us to her small village. We meet a person who is a priest of Athena. The old woman and priest talk for a bit then they took me inside a room. Evan didn't want me to go but I told him that I would be fine.

So I go in and I see a small group of people ranging in different ages from as old as 85 to as young as 12. I stood in the middle and they do a ritual. Later the old woman tells me that it's a ritual to protect myself from outside forces and inside forces as well. She told me that a mark would appear when the time is right. I guess it showed up now."

Roy steps closer to her. He stands behind her and lightly traces the mark with his finger. Mia softly gasps at the contact.

She whispers. "Roy."

Roy doesn't know what he's doing, it's like his body had a mind of its own. His hand covers the mark then makes its way down her back and stops at her waist. He leans his head into the crook of her neck and begins giving it light kisses. Mia closes her eyes at the sensation and softly moans. Hearing the sound makes Roy more adventurous and begins biting the same spot on her neck.

"Well, well, well. Looks like little Mrs. O'Brian is getting some side action. I do wonder what Evan, your husband, would think about this," Labiwa laughs.

Her eyes shoot open and pulls away from him. She turns around and uses her shirt to cover her bra. Both sets of eyes are wide with shock. Mia's stunned silent.

"Mia, I—"

"I'm married Roy and so are you."

"I know that but—"

"I-I better go change somewhere else. Excuse me."

She quickly rushes past him. When the sound of the door slamming shut, Roy growls in frustration and punches the wall closest to him.

"DAMN IT!"

* * *

Down in the parking garage, Mercy continues to fire lasers at the original. He expertly dodges them and runs for cover. Pulling out an automatic bow, he fires at Mercy. She dodges them. Seconds later, the arrows explode and she gets caught in the blast wave and flies straight into a car.

Luthor sets down the briefcase. "Quite the arsenal you've brought tonight Mr. Harper."

"You haven't seen half of it, Luthor."

"Oh, I wasn't talking about the weaponry. I myself never go armed. No. The greatest arsenal any man can bring to the party consists of the resources of his own mind, his intelligence, his stratagems, his force of will. And you, my young friend, have all of those in spades."

Speedy looks up to see Mercy. He quickly ducks when she fires at him. As Speedy dodges Mercy's attack, one of the laser bullets hits a car's gas tank causing it to explode which Speedy gets caught in the blast wave. His weapon gets knocked out of his hand. When he stood up and tried to go after it, Mercy destroys it.

She continues her assault then stops when she couldn't find him. Mercy searches around but still couldn't find him. Speedy manages to evade capture. He places a small machine to open one of the many cars in the garage. _"This'll keep her busy."_

Mercy turns her head when she sees a car coming at her in reverse. She dodges it. Speedy took this as an opportunity to attack her from behind. Luckily for her, she was ready. The duo duked it out for a bit until Mercy manages to get Speedy to fly into a truck then falling to the ground. He rolls away leaving behind a grenade.

She spots it and ran for cover. Once again she searches for him. Speedy pulls out some rope from his bag and cuts the amount he needed with his teeth.

Once Mercy's back was towards him, he attacks making sure that the rope tied around Mercy's robot arm. When she knocks him away, he pulls out a trigger and presses the button. Turns out the rope is also a bomb and it destroys her arm.

"Mercy," Luthor softly says.

Speedy's able to wrap the same rope around Luthor's arm and arms it.

"That's detonation cord, Luthor—the kind Lexcorp sells illegally. It's the perfect revenge. I use your own teach to do what you did to me."

"Except we gave you anesthesia. Your methods seem a tad more violent."

"We reap what we sow, Luthor."

"Indeed. But are you prepared for the harvest?"

Soon Speedy's surrounded by Lexcorp's personal SWAT team.

"Vengeance is a sucker's game, son. And yours can only be achieved at the cost of your own life."

"You think I won't pay the cost?"

"Honestly, I have no idea. But I might just be dying to find out."

"You want we should take him out now, Mr. Luthor?" Otis asks.

"No, Otis. I'm content to wait patiently for young Mr. Harper's decision."

"Don't mock me, Luthor! To get my revenge, I'd run any risk."

"I don't believe in risk. I believe in preparation. You see, ever since you vacated that cozy little freezer unit we provided for you in Tibet, I've expected this confrontation, so I came prepared."

Luthor kicks over the briefcase to Speedy. Speedy goes to open it but stops.

"How do I know it's not booby-trapped?"

"I suppose you don't."

He takes the risk and opens it. Speedy's shocked to see the content of the briefcase.

"What is you really want, son? Revenge? Or satisfaction?"

* * *

Outside, the trio arrive too late. They see the smoke from the top floor rise into the nighttime sky.

"No. We can't be too late. I cannot have failed him again," Oliver states.

"He's going to be fine G.A. I'm just sorry that I couldn't get us here fast enough." Roy catches her eye and she quickly looks away. _"Why did I let him do that? I should've stopped him before it went that far."_

"No, wait. Look!" Roy says.

Coming out of the smoke is Speedy who looks a bit too happy.

"Hey, guys. What took you so long?"

"Roy! Are you all right?"

"I'm good. Well, better than I've been in 8 years, anyway."

"You didn't—"

"Kill Luthor? No. Not tonight."

"But you're still planning on killing him in the near future, aren't you?" Mia accuses him.

He doesn't deny it.

"What's in the case?" Roy asks.

Speedy holds it up. "Satisfaction. It's not elegant," he places the case down and opens it, "Won't fool anyone into thinking it's actual flesh and blood but it's more powerful and versatile than the model Luthor gave his own bodyguard, and it will literally make me a living weapon. No one's putting me on ice again, ever."

"Maybe we should put you in time-out," Mia raises a brow.

"Speedy…you sure you're ok?" Oliver asks.

He takes off the domino mask. "Speedy died 8 years ago but I kind of like the sound of…Arsenal."

"Pyscho is more of a better fit," she mutters.

Arsenal leaves as does Oliver. Mia goes to leave too when Roy grabs her wrist. She turns to look at him.

"What?"

"Can we talk? Please."

"Fine."

The two of them leave the scene. They stand on top of one of the many rooftops in Metropolis. Mia's back faces Roy. He feels guilty about what he did back in the hideout.

"Mia, listen I—"

She turns to face him filled with rage and fury. "JUST WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!?"

He frowns. "If you would just listen—"

"For God's sake Roy, I'm married! And so are you as a matter of fact! What would Jade think of this?"

"This is Jade we're talking about."

"That's not the point," she sighs. "Roy, we can't do this. What we had ended four years ago and it should stay in the past."

"I know and I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. Just seeing you like that brought up old memories I thought I lost and I…guess that I'm still not completely over you yet," he whispers the last part.

Even though he whispers it, Mia still hears it. She turns back around to face the city lights so she won't have to face him.

"Let's just forget this ever happened. Alright?"

"Yeah, sure."

"And…if you ever need a babysitter, have Paula call me and I'll pick Lian up."

"Thanks."

"Sure," she teleports.

Roy stare at the spot where his ex was standing on. Anger and frustration runs through his blood. Feeling the need to punch something yet again, he spots a brick wall to his left and punches it. There's a hole there now. It seems to have done the trick as he slides down and sits on the ground with his face in his hands. He's so ashamed of himself.

" _How could I've done that? Mia's right, the two of us are married. I can never do that to her ever again but,"_ "I still love you Amelia," he whispers into the night.


	19. Darkest

**Disclaimer: I do not own YJ, they belong to DC. I own my OCs.**

 _ **Gulf of Mexico**_

 _ **March 23, 16:03 EDT**_

"How can you stand to look in the mirror? Altlantis. K'orin. The Team. You've betrayed us all. Neptune's beard! I can't believe I once idolized you."

The door opens and Manta steps in.

"Why is this prisoner still aboard? He should be delivered at once to our partner. Prepare OTT."

"I will handle it personally, Father."

"Negative. I have other duties for you, my son."

"You're not his son. You're his errand boy."

"I am aware of my role in the larger picture, La'gaan. Are you?" Kaldur injects him with a sedative.

"Uhh! I'm so getting you back for this, chum," he passes out.

The troopers got La'gaan into a pod and ready to ship him to the Light's partner.

"Kaldur'ahm, you should know my faith in you is absolute, but others require further proof of loyalty."

"You have my word, Father. I will do whatever it takes to enter the Light."

* * *

A smaller Flyer departs from the main Flyer. Inside are Kaldur, Icicle Junior, the Terror Twins and Tigress, Kaldur's handpicked right-hand.

"Brother Tommy, I think we're plumb crazy to throw in with this feller. I mean, it wasn't two years ago Mr. Aqualad here was trying to lock us up in Belle Reve."

"Well, Sister Tupence, folks say he had a change of heart since finding out who his pappy is."

"I hear he switched sides because of some girl, which I totally get," Junior squats next to Tupence, "You know, if it's the right girl."

"Step back, Junior. You're giving me the chills."

"But in a good way, right, babe?"

"Me, I'm more concerned about this Tigress. How come the Terror Twins ain't never heard of her before?" Tommy wonders.

"You know we can hear you," Tigress states.

"That we do, Missy. These are open questions, you see."

"So which one of you wants to ask your open questions to Black Manta?" Tommy stops smiling. "Which one of you wants to suggest to the big bad that his son and his son's handpicked right-hand can't be trusted?"

None of them respond. They get back to work.

"Don't look so defeated. I'm here for you, babe."

"Uhh. Will you cut that out?"

"Can't help myself, babe. Been kinda obsessed since the first time I laid eyes on you."

"This _is_ the first time you laid eyes on me."

"Technically. But see, 5 years ago in Belle Reve, this Martian girl was posing as you."

"So go give the skeevies to her," she pushes him away.

He looks to Kaldur. "I'm wearing her down."

"Perhaps we should focus on the mission now. We are closing on our target."

 _ **El Paso**_

 _ **March 23, 18:18 MDT**_

The doorbell rings. Jaime opens the door to find someone he's not expecting; Bart in his supersuit.

"Dude, what are you doing here?"

"Here to hang. To chill. Spend a little downtime with my buddy Blue, B.B., the Beetle, the Bee-tel. You know, chillayin'."

"And put my secret ID at risk?"

'The Impulse is trouble. Destroy him."

"Overreacting won't help."

"Totally. Hey, don't beat yourself up. I'll never get used to this so-retro obsession with secret identities. I mean, what's the point in hiding how crash we are?"

Jaime walks out and closes the door behind him. "If you don't know, I can't explain it. Let's just get out of here before someone spots us," Jaime armors up.

"Too late."

They turn their heads towards the voice. Imagine their surprise when they spot Mia a few feet away wearing her suit with her arms crossed and a frown on her face.

"B-Blink…um, how long have you been standing there?" Jaime asks.

"A good five minutes. Don't worry Blue, I'm not here for you," she narrows her eyes at her nephew, "You, mister, will be feeling the mode when I'm done with you."

"Oh boy."

"Maybe we should take this somewhere else that's not in front of my house," Jaime suggests.

She sighs, "Fine but we're not done yet."

All three of them head out into the desert where no one can watch them.

 _ **Ivy Town**_

 _ **March 23, 20:20 EDT**_

Karen's reading and walking when she bumps into someone.

"Uhh! Oh, excu-Mal? What are you doing here?"

"I thought I'd surprise you, beautiful. Hardly seen you lately."

"Mal, we saw each other last night."

He frowns. "Mission briefings don't count," the frown turns into a hopeful expression, "Look, Karen, I want to take you out. Like back in high school. You know, dinner, a movie. Busted curfew."

"That sounds great, Mal, but I need to put in a couple hours at Dr. Palmer's lab."

"Then I'll keep you company till you're done."

"Ok, but you'll be bored."

Karen leads the way. Mal quickly follows after her.

* * *

La'gaan begins to wake up. His vision is still blurry but he does hear foreign alien languages being spoken.

"I see no use for an Atlantian-born with powers augmented by sorcery."

"But the Atlantian race mutated from humans into many sub-species. The Meta-gene must be involved. Besides, fresh meat is fresh meat."

La'gaan passes out.

* * *

The trio are in the desert having some fun with destroying rocks. Well...the boys are, not Mia. She just stands off to the side watching them like a mother watching her boys play outside in the yard.

"They're such kids," Mia softly says.

"Here. Watch this one," Jaime destroys another boulder with his sonic weapon, "Well?"

"Yawn. Really? That's the best you could do?"

"No."

"Bart, stop egging Jaime."

He destroys a larger boulder into tiny pieces of rubble. "Top that, hermano."

"Ooh, not bad, not bad. Boulder's definitely feeling the mode, but one thing I learned in the future, amigo, is that it's easier to destroy…" Bart zips around. "Than to create. Ta-da!"

"I don't see anything Bart."

'The Impulse has created nothing and its premise is faulty. Tactical destruction is more effective than creation.'

"Uh, ta-da what exactly?"

"Curb the attitude, get a little altitude, hermano."

"We really need to work more on your Spanish mijo. Give me a lift Blue."

Jaime holds onto Mia's waist. He flies them up into the air.

"Whoa."

"You said it." _"Looks like we have another artist in the family."_

"Impulse, by Impulse. Is that crash, or what?"

"Crash. Totally crash."

Mia gets the familiar feeling in the pit of her stomach. _"Shit."_ "Blue! We've got income—"

"Uhh!"

Tupence brings Jaime down. He releases Mia before he hit the ground.

"Blue! Blink!" _"Tia."_

Mia teleports and appears next to Bart. He looks down at his now destroyed piece of art.

"Oh, man, I spent 1.6 seconds on that self-portrait. It was my master piece," she smacks him. "Ow!"

"Focus on the important thing like Tupence and where there's Tupence, there's Tommy," Mia chides.

Tigress appears but both heroes dodge her. Bart runs at Tommy which doesn't do much since the southern boy's as big as Superman and just as strong as the Kryptonian. Tigress fires a net at Bart that he fails to dodge and gets tangled up in it. Mia taps Tigress' shoulder. She turns around.

"I don't believe we've met. I'm Blink."

"I don't care." _"Please don't let Mia recognize me."_ **(A/N: Yes this is from the interaction between Clint and T'Challa in Captain America: Civil War. I love this scene.)**

The two fight for a bit until Tigress has Mia pinned down.

" _She's good I'll give her that."_ Mia struggles underneath her hold. Tommy and Tupence manage to hold onto Jaime. Junior comes up to them.

"Hold him steady. Now move!" he freezes Jaime in a giant case of ice.

"Blue!" Bart yells.

"Junior let him out now before I melt you," Mia threatens.

Bart vibrates out of the net. The distraction is enough for Mia to get out from underneath Tigress. Jaime frees himself by using his sonic cannon then uses it on the villains. Bart and Mia flank Jaime. All three stand ready in fighting stances.

'The advantage is ours. Recommended tactic: evisceration.'

"Or, since they outnumber us 4 to 3, we could recommend tactic strategic retreat."

"I second that."

"Totally. But first, how did they find us out here in the middle of the—aha," Bart spots Kaldur and ran to him.

"Impulse, no!" Mia shouts. _"Damn it."_

"So you're Aqualad. Working with the bad guys, I see. Taking their alien tech to track our friend Blue? Not crash, dude. Not crash at all."

Kaldur attacks him but misses every time. Bart dodges one more time and steals the tracker from Kaldur's hand.

"Uhh! Swink. Loaded," Bart heads back down to Jaime and Mia, "They can't follow us. Let's book!"

"Booking."

All three flee and head back to the Cave. _"That was too easy,"_ is the last thought in Mia's head.

* * *

"Well, that's brilliant, chief. You let them get away with the tracking device. Now how do we find Beetle?" Tommy demands.

"As it happens," Kaldur responds.

 _ **Mount Justice**_

 _ **March 23, 21:05 EDT**_

"Recognized: Blue Beetle, B25. Impulse, B26. Blink, B04."

All three arrived in the Cave.

"Ha ha! Left them in the dust!"

"Left who in the dust? And what is that?" Nightwing asks.

"One second Nightwing," Mia sends him an overly sweet smile.

He instantly knows someone's about to get scolded. _"One of these boys is a goner,"_ he thinks to himself. Mia walks over and stands in front of her nephew. She rips off her cowl revealing her raged filled eyes and a scowl on her face. Bart slightly flinches.

"Just what the hell were you thinking?! First, you disappear from the Garricks. They were so worried about you that they thought you were with me so they called me. Imagine their surprise when I told them I haven't seen you all day. They wanted to call Barry but I told them not to and that I would look for you.

"I started thinking, 'Where would my nephew go?' and my first thought was Jaime. So there I am arriving at his house when I spot you, in full suit, standing in front of Jaime's house where anyone could just walk out front to see you and him talking. Do you know how much risk you put Jaime and his family in?"

Bart opens his mouth to speak. "Don't say a word until I'm done," he closes it, "But the stupidest thing you did all night was confronting Kaldur. Don't you realize that he could've killed you?! Even with super speed, he would've find a way to take you down and he won't hesitate to end your life right there. Remember that he was part of this team. He trained with us and Wally, who is a speedster, so he knows how to effectively take one down. So next time think before you do anything. Don't act on your impulses!"

The room's silent. Bart looks away from his aunt's burning gaze. Jaime stands there awkwardly not knowing what to do or say. Nightwing remains silent since he's experienced in being scolded by Mia. _"Turned out that Bart was the goner."_

Mia finally breathes. "I'm going to grab a drink," she leaves for the kitchen.

A few minutes pass then Bart returns to his "cheery" self. He holds up the tracker, "Souvenir."

"Souvenirs are Beast Boy's thing, ese."

"Oh, really? I thought it was Kid Flash."

"Can we get to it?"

"Sorry. Aqualad attacked us with Icicle Junior, the Terror Twins and a ninja girl I didn't recognize."

"She looked like a tiger if that helps," Mia shouts from the kitchen.

"This is how they tracked Blue. I made sure they couldn't do it again," Bart brags.

"So you brought foreign, possibly alien, tech into the Cave? Rookie mistake." Nightwing sighs, "All right. Give it here."

"He what!?"

Mia appears next to Nightwing and swipes the tracker from his hand. Once again she's angry at her nephew.

"You are beyond moded Bartholomew."

* * *

"If you had another one of them gizmos, why not just say so?" Tommy asks.

"It is not the same. This one confirms the first device acted as a Trojan horse. Impulse brought it into the Cave, where it remotely hacked and bypassed all security. Mount Justice is ours."

The Flyer reaches the Mount Justice and dives into the water. Kaldur walks out of the water and into the hangar. Sphere meets up with him. He places a hand on her. She rolls away. Kaldur continues making his way inside.

* * *

La'gaan becomes fully awake. He sees a strange alien woman looking at him. She makes a chittering sound then leaves him alone. Looking to his left, he sees six other people in pods. _"Oh squid ink."_

* * *

In Ivy Town, Mal's bored out of his mind.

He yawns. "So, beautiful, when you're done, maybe we can hit the Happy Harbor Bowlarama, like old times?"

"The bowlarama closed down months ago."

"It did? Oh, man. We had some killer fun there."

"Yeah, in high school."

"Hey, guys," Palmer walks in the room, "Oh, Mal, good to see you."

They shake hands.

"Thanks, Doc, I—"

"Dr. Palmer, you have to see this," Karen steps to the side allowing Palmer to look in the microscope.

"Excellent work, Karen. Of course, we'll need to test this against the white dwarf fragment."

"Test is prepped and ready. Shouldn't take more than two or three hours."

"Beautiful. Let's do it."

Disappointed, Mal leaves the room without anyone noticing.

* * *

Wolf and Lola are sleeping on the couch. Both smell someone approaching them. They lift their heads. They sniff around. Wolf goes back to sleep but Lola doesn't. She sees someone and growls at them. The person comes closer to her. Lola sniffs again but this time purrs at the familiar scent. She lays back down and goes to sleep. The same person places inhibitor collars on the both of them and leaves. Turns out it's Tigress who did it.

* * *

'Hello, Megan.' Garfield's watching old reruns of his mom's show on his phone. A knock comes from the door. He puts the phone down and opens it. Tupence surprises him and knocks him out.

* * *

Down in the grotto, Connor stands before Artemis' monument. He hears something coming up behind him. Dodging an ice attack, Connor has no time to react against Tommy's assault. When Tommy has Connor pinned up against the wall, Junior shouts at him.

"Terror, move!"

He freezes Connor. Connor breaks free. Tommy quickly places an inhibitor collar on him from behind. Not realizing this, Connor throws a punch but Tommy catches it with ease.

"Sorry, son. Collar's done shut off yer strength."

"And that's not all it can do," Junior presses a button on a controller.

Connor receives an electrical shock from the collar.

"Don't know about you, Junior, but I'm harboring some old resentments against this boy."

"Oh yeah, let's finish him."

"Belay that. When the time is right, you will have your revenge." Kaldur appears in the grotto. "For now, I need Superboy alive."

* * *

The others in the mission room are unaware of the assault. Mia rubs her temple to help herself calm down.

"That's some nephew we got there."

"Oh shut up."

Nightwing has the computer scan the tracker and realizes something from the results.

"I'm an idiot!"

"What do you—"

Mia's interrupted when someone throws Connor at her and Nightwing. They fall to the floor with an unconscious Kryptonian-human hybrid clone on top of them. Junior begins icing the floor. Bart goes after him.

"Oh, it's like a classic. Ice over the floor. The speedster can't get traction, right?" he knocks Junior out of the way, "Wrong."

Bart sees Tupence walk in with an unconscious Garfield over her shoulder.

"That worked so nice, I'll try it twice."

He tries but it doesn't work. The result is him bouncing off Tupence and into Tommy's hand. Bart rapidly punches Tommy. Of course, it barely hurts him.

"My hands. What are you made of?"

"Snips and snails and puppy dog tails," Tommy places the collar on Bart.

"Uhh! Ahh. Nice try, but I'll just vibrate right out of this—no, speed. I'm moded, aren't I?"

Tommy punches him. Bart falls to the ground a few feet away. _"Bart."_ Mia helps Nightwing in pushing off the unconscious Connor. Jaime attacks Tommy with his sonic cannon.

"The hell is going on?"

"Don't know."

The two of them stand up but Tigress takes down Nightwing in under 5 seconds. She places a collar around his neck.

"Sorry. No superpowers for your collar to turn off."

He gets her off of him. When he stands up, Tigress presses a button sending electricity into him from the collar.

"Nightwing!"

Mia kicks the remote out of Tigress' hand. The villain turns to her.

"Round 2?" Mia teases.

"No need."

Jaime's ready to fire at Tigress when Kaldur appears.

"Stand down."

'Switch to plasma cannon. Wide dispersal. Incinerate them all.'

"Good guys included? No thanks."

"This battle is over."

"I don't think so, traitor."

"Blue wait!"

"Rethink Beetle. Listen to Blink," Kaldur places the duffle bag down. "This is the same type of bomb that obliterated Malina Island. I am holding down the dead man switch. If my thumb comes off this button for any reason, Mount Justice falls."

'The traitor bluffs, and if not, I calculate we can survive the blast.'

"But my friends can't." Jaime surrenders himself, "We're standing down."

"The hell we are." Kaldur looks to Mia. "I'm not letting you do this Kaldur. What's stopping me from teleporting the bomb out of here?"

"I doubt that you are fast enough to teleport it out before I release the button."

Mia growls in frustration. Tommy places a collar around Jaime's neck. Tigress does the same to Mia.

"Wise choice."

Junior slides down his own made ice ramp, "I'm fine, by the way."

"Good. Escort Beetle, Impulse, and Beast Boy to the Flyer."

"What about these three?" Tigress asks.

"As hostages here, they have value, but Nightwing is an ordinary human. Superboy, a human-Kryptonian hybrid clone. Blink, however, may be useful."

Nightwing stands up. "Aqualad! You'll regret this."

Kaldur walks up to him and punches him in the gut.

"Nightwing!"

"I believe I have out grown the name "Aqualad" as well as anything resembling regret."

"That's it!"

Mia runs at Kaldur but he's ready. Quickly turning around, he grabs her shoulder and electrocutes her at the same time as Tigress presses the button on the remote. Having a double dose of electrocution, Mia's eyes roll back into her head and her body goes limp.

"Blink!" Nightwing shouts as he watches her body crumple onto the floor like a rag doll. _"I'm so sorry Mia."_

"I will leave the bomb with you, as a souvenir. Oh, and the dead man switch has a 5-mile range. Do not pursue."

In the end, Kaldur decides to take Mia along too. _"If anyone can escape, it's Mia."_ Meeting up with the rest of the group, he hands her off to Tommy. All of them walk out to the beach heading back to the Flyer. The Terror Twins carry the unconscious heroes over their shoulders while Junior makes sure Jaime stays in line. Jaime stops.

Junior pushes him forward, "Move it, bug."

'No, we cannot allow ourselves to be taken prisoner.'

"Not much choice, is there?"

"None at all."

'Inaccurate. I have accessed the functions of this inhibitor collar. I will disable it so you may attack.'

"You risk Aqualad blowing up the Cave? I don't think so."

'Jaime Reyes, you leave me no choice. I am taking control.'

The scarab turns off the collar and takes control.

"What? No! You can't!"

Scarab doesn't listen. It takes down Junior and Tigress with the sonic cannon. He fires at Kaldur who falls onto a bed of rocks. The force knocks the dead man's switch out of his hand.

"No!" Jaime turns to watch the Cave explode but it didn't. "You were right. It was a dud. Get him!"

This time Jaime goes after Kaldur himself. To defend himself, Kaldur raises his hand to electrocute the Latino boy. The magic from Kaldur's electricity burns off the suit revealing a portion of Jaime's chest. Tigress takes the opportunity to shoot a tranq dart at the exposed chest. When the dart hits its target, Jaime passes out.

"I was not certain that would work, but it seems Beetle is indeed vulnerable to mystic energy and sedatives. Bring him aboard."

Once all of them board the Flyer, they fly just above Mount Justice. Bart and Garfield begin to wake up. All four of them are tied but Bart's more worried about his aunt. Not once has Mia shown any signs of stirring. _"Come on Tia. Wake up."_

"I can't believe we didn't end Superboy when we had the chance," Tommy complains.

"Boss Fish still has a soft spot for his old team."

Kaldur looks to Tigress. "Do it."

To him, he still sees Artemis, "You sure?"

"Do it."

She sighs then presses the real remote. The bomb completely decimates Mount Justice.

Garfield gasps.

"Oh, no!" Bart yells. _"It's just like in the future."_

As the two of them witness the Cave's destruction, the Flyer flees the area.

 _ **Happy Harbor**_

 _ **March 23, 22:23 EDT**_

Mal's on his motorcycle when he spots fire and smoke. He stops to lift up the helmet's visor.

He taps on his com link. "Duncan to Watchtower. Mount Justice is gone. I mean, there's been an explosion. A big explosion. Request immediate assistance. Get here. Fast."

He drives to the destroyed remains of Mount Justice. Mal hops off the bike and starts sorting through the rubble. Sphere revs her engines.

"Sphere?"

Mal pulls out his phone and quickly spots her out in the water. He takes off his jacket to dive into the water. Sphere's in supercycle mode. She's currently carrying Nightwing, Connor and Wolf. The water laps and pulls Nightwing under. Mal dives after him. Once he has Nightwing in his arms, he tries waking up Connor.

"Connor. Superboy, wake up!"

In the end, he splashes water in his face.

Connor instantly wakes up. "What?"

"Questions later, man. Grab Wolf. The S-cycle's sinking."

"Right. Right."

When Connor grabs Wolf, Sphere sinks.

"Will Sphere be ok?"

"Yeah. I think so. She fell to heal. Can you make it to shore with Nightwing?"

"Yeah. I got him."

They swim to shore. When they reach it, Connor hears a soft roar.

"Lola?" He sets Wolf down and goes to search for her. "Lola."

She roars louder. He finally finds her. Lola's scratching at a boulder pinning her back leg down. Connor picks it up and tosses it off to the side with ease. When the weight's off her leg, she tries to stand up. The moment she puts weight on her injured leg she growls in pain. Connor ends up carrying her back to Mal and the others.

 _ **Washington D.C.**_

 _ **March 24, 03:12 EDT**_

"Recognized: Kid Flash, B03."

Wally walks into the library of the Hall.

"What happened?"

Dick sets down his mug. "It was necessary."

"It better have been. Spill."

"Aqualad needed to find a way to help us rescue Lagoon Boy. He'd already injected a microscopic tag into La'gaan's bloodstream and he used the raid on the Cave to pass essential intel—a flash drive with, among other things, tracking software that can locate the tag."

"Like that's all he did," Wally crosses his arms.

Dick stands up. "Wally, he had to make it look good. He put inhibitor collars on us, but he knew I'd get us out of them."

"He took 3 hostages. Members from your team. Including Mia! What do you think Evan would do when he finds out about this?"

"And we'll rescue them when we rescue Lagoon Boy. I'm sure Evan will—"

"Dick, he blew up the Cave! You guys almost died!"

"No! It's all on the flash drive. He knew I'd have to pursue to make it look legit, and that's exactly what happened. He gave us time to get out. We just-we got caught in the debris field from the explosion."

"Do you even hear yourself? What if even one of you had been left behind? Huh? What if Mia had decided to stay behind to disarm the bomb? Why take that risk? Why go to such extremes?"

"The drive explains that, too. He needed to cement his position with the Light and the Light's partner."

"Wasn't that why he "murdered" Artemis?"

"I guess it didn't convince everyone."

"You guess?" Wally shouts.

"The Cave is—was just a place, worth sacrificing if it helps us stop the invasion. Look, I'm sorry you lost all your souvenirs."

Wally shoves him. "Are you serious? I don't care about that junk. I'm worried about Artemis and Mia. Terrified for them. I'll be damned if Mia gets tortured again by someone she knows. You put them right into his hands."

"Wally, we're talking about Kaldur here."

"I know. Kaldur. Our friend. Who, in the span of a few months, lost the love of his life and found out Black Manta was his father. Isn't it possible Aqualad might actually be a traitor? A triple agent? He's supposed to be playing them, but are you absolutely sure he isn't playing you?"

The doors suddenly burst open. Their heads turn towards the door to see an enraged Evan as he marches towards them.

"You son of a bitch."

"Look, Evan—"

Evan lands a right hook to Dick's jaw. He stumbles a little then straightens his back. Dick resists the urge to touch his jaw. _"Guess training with Mia turned out well."_ Before Evan can punch the living shit out of Dick, Wally restrains him.

"Evan calm down!"

"How dare you tell me to calm down. My wife, your cousin, had just been kidnapped by that traitorous bastard Kaldur!" He murderously glares at Dick, "While Grayson here is twiddling with his thumbs, they could be torturing her right this second. Do you have any idea what that kind of stress would do to her psyche?"

"What are you talking about Evan?" Wally asks.

He looks at his cousin-in-law. "The barrier broke. Labiwa is free."

Wally's eyes widen. "No."

"Who's Labiwa?" Dick asks.

The duo look to Dick with grave expressions. Wally finally releases Evan knowing he won't do anything at the moment.

"I'm guessing Mia didn't tell you then," Evan concludes.

"Tell me what?"

"Mia and her brothers all have split personalities born from their time in the League of Shadows courtesy of Ra's al Ghul. Those in the League have code names that they respond to and Mia's was Labiwa which means lioness in Arabic. Her brothers were called Altaw'am alnumur, the Twin Tigers. Labiwa was the best there was in the League back then. She was merciless, brutal, clever, and enjoyed spilling blood just for the hell of it.

"So when Mia came to the States, she ends up in Ted's boxing gym. He takes her to meet with a friend, who's a psychic, named Daniel Buckley. Buckley sets up the barrier in her mind separating the two of them. He knew that if he hadn't then, Labiwa would take over Mia whenever she wanted and cause mayhem. When Mia got her brothers back, Buckley does the same for them. I haven't heard anything about their barriers but they sure as hell know about Mia's since hers broke minutes after Artemis' death."

"What?!" Wally shouts.

Dick's silent. He had no idea just how much Mia had truly been through. _"She didn't say anything. Why didn't she?"_

"How bad was it?"

"Labiwa had complete control over her. Bad enough I had to confront her but Bart unexpectedly shows up and she almost kills him."

"Oh my god."

"Tell me about it. Buckley even shows up but Labiwa was so powerful that he couldn't build up another barrier. Turned out Mia and Labiwa came to an agreement. Let her stay in a part of Mia's conscious state and she won't kill everyone Mia knows and loves in retaliation," he looks back to Dick, who still hasn't made a peep. "So now you know. I swear if anything happens to my wife, you're a dead man Grayson."

Dick takes the threat seriously but puts it off to the side at the moment. "How did you know that she was kidnapped?"

"They didn't make me detective because I'm good looking." Evan crosses his arms, "She always updates me by sending little notes. I knew she didn't have any missions today but she did go look for our nephew since he disappeared from the Garrick's place. Even when Mia found him, she would still send notes to me. It's been over 5 hours since Mia last sent a note and the only possible reason for that to happen is that she was kidnapped."

"Evan, I promise you, we will get her back. I swear," Dick states.

"Do you know where she is?" his eyes narrow dangerously.

"No but—"

"I've heard enough. If you're not going to do anything to find her then I will. I'll get my wife back even if it costs me my life."

Evan storms out of the library. Wally looks back to Dick with disappointment.

"I hope you're satisfied," he turns and runs after Evan. _"Please don't let him do anything reckless."_

 _ **Atlantic Ocean**_

 _ **March 24, 03:17 EDT**_

The Flyer meets up with the main ship. Kaldur and his team exit the Flyer. The troopers walk in and push out our heroes in pods.

"Come with me," Manta orders.

Kaldur does. The two of them enter his office and face multiple screens.

"Please allow me to officially introduce Kaldur'ahm…my son. He has succeeded in every mission, and then some. Not only did he capture Beetle as instructed, but he acquired three bonus members as well. One of them being Labiwa."

Ra's al Ghul smiles at the comment.

"As for the destruction of Mount Justice, well…"

'Indeed. We appreciate initiative, vision, and strong family ties. Welcome to the Light, Kaldur'ahm. It is time for you to meet our partner,' Ra's says.


	20. Family Intervention

**Disclaimer: I don't own any YJ characters, they belong to DC. I own my OCs!**

 _ **Central City**_

 _ **March 24, 02:50 CDT**_

Evan knocks on Barry's door. _"What am I going to tell Barry?"_ The door opens revealing Iris in a sleeping rob.

"Evan? What are you doing here so early?"

"H-Have you seen Barry?"

She shakes her head. "No, he got a call about what happened in Happy Harbor and went to go help."

"Oh." _"I can't tell her about Mia."_

"Evan, are you alright?"

He sighs, "I'm fine. I'm sorry for waking you."

Evan turns to leave. He walks off the front porch when Iris calls out to him.

"Evan." He turns around. "Have you heard from Mia?"

"Yeah, she's spending the night at Wally's place. She needed to be near him after...you know," he lies through his teeth.

Iris solemnly nods. Evan hates lying to people, especially to family.

"Alright. Tell her to give me a call when she can."

"I will."

"Good night Evan."

"Good night Iris."

She closes the door. Evan pulls out his phone and calls Tulio. The phone rings only once when the other side gets picked up.

'Evan! The Cave was—'

"Meet me at the apartment in twenty minutes. Bring Miguel too."

'Wha—'

He hangs up. Evan heads back into his car and drives home. The man drives over a bridge as an irrational thought filters into his mind. _"I could just end the pain now."_ He turns the wheel to move the car closer to the railing. Before the car goes over, his rational brain kicks in and he drives back into the lane.

"What the hell am I doing?" he mutters to himself.

He makes it to the apartment before the Twins do. The man walks into the apartment and heads to the kitchen. Evan rummages through the cabinets to find the bottle of whiskey Mia keeps hidden.

"Where the hell is it?" his fingers brush against the bottle, "Finally."

He grabs the bottle and just drinks straight from it. Evan heads to the couch to continue drinking. Five minutes pass when the front door opens. Miguel and Tulio walk in with worried expressions.

"Evan, the Cave's been destroyed! We received a call from Mal," Miguel states.

Tulio narrows his eyes at his brother-in-law. "Evan," said man looks up at him, "What happened?"

Evan takes a good swig of the bottle until it's nearly halfway empty. He burps, "Mia and Bart have been kidnapped by Kaldur. Nightwing did _nothing_ to stop him from taking her."

"I'm sure he did everything he could," Miguel calmly reasons.

Tulio looks to his brother with surprise. Normally, his twin _loves_ to have the opportunity to bash Nightwing but this time he doesn't. He keeps his mouth shut about it.

"He did nothing."

"Evan—"

"NOTHING!" he throws the bottle at the wall to his left.

His rage is seething and filling his veins. He pants heavily as his rage fuels him. The Twins glance at each other with caution. Tulio, being the more calculating one, slowly walks over to him.

He keeps his up and open, "Evan, you need to calm down."

"HOW CAN I KEEP CALM WHEN MY WIFE HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED?!" Evan shouts.

"She's going to be fine. Mia can handle it."

Evan begins to pace. "I _knew_ I shouldn't have let her go back into this life. Why did I let her? It's all my fault for even _suggesting_ it."

"It's not your fault. You told us yourself you knew she was training while you guys were traveling Europe. Mia's a hero and you know it which is why you nudged her. She can't sit around and do nothing while people are in danger," Tulio reasons. He motions for Miguel to get behind Evan. His twin nods. "It's who she is."

The distressed man shakes his head. "But she didn't want to come back into it. She wanted to live quietly and be at peace. Mia has lost too many people already to this damn life." Realization washes over him, "Nightwing. This is all Nightwing's fault!"

Miguel is right behind Evan waiting for Tulio's signal. Tulio waits for the right moment.

"Ev, you can't blame him."

"I CAN AND I DO. HE'S A MASTER AT MANIPULATING PEOPLE TO GET WHAT HE WANTS JUST LIKE BATMAN!"

"He's not like that and you know it. This is just your anger talking," Tulio's ear twitches.

Miguel springs into action.

"I swear I'm going to kill that son of a—"

Miguel grabs Evan from behind. He quickly immobilizes him. Evan thrashes his legs around trying to break free. Miguel has a firm grip on his upper body but no one has a hold on the legs.

"Let me go!" Evan shouts in frustration.

"Can't do that Ev. You're drunk and frustrated," Miguel states.

"I have to get Mia back!"

" _You_ can't but _we_ can. You don't have to worry about it."

"I'll always worry about her! She's my wife, my best friend, my partner in crime," he cries.

Tulio walks to his brother's side. He hits a pressure point on Evan's body. The man slowly loses consciousness.

"I...love...her," he passes out.

Miguel sets him down on the couch. He looks to his brother for help. For once, Tulio doesn't know what to do.

 _ **Pacific Ocean**_

 _ **March 23 22:50 HAST**_

Mia groans softly. She tries to rub her head but can't. Opening her eyes, she sees a glass dome in front of her. Her eyes trail down to her hands to see them bound to her side.

"What's going on?" she whispers.

"Look who's finally awake."

"Oh, shut it."

"While you've been taking your nap, I've been trying to gather intel."

"What did you get?"

"I thought I wasn't allowed to talk anymore."

"I can feel you smirking. Just tell me already."

"It's better if you watch."

"What does that mean?" Mia mutters softly.

Glancing back up, she screams out of fright when a random face appears. The person is obviously not human and Mia can tell. The alien begins to chatter like an insect. Mia frowns at trying to comprehend what the alien insect is saying.

"Who are you? What am I doing here?" Mia demands.

The alien chatters again. Mia growls in frustration. They walk away to some computer and to another similar looking alien.

"If you feel frustrated now, look to our left."

Mia does. She gasps when she sees Bart and Garfield in pods similar to hers. The young woman growls baring her teeth. This grabs the alien's attention. They walk back to her pod. They smile at her.

"Let us go before I kill you with my bare hands," Mia threatens.

They chatter again.

"I know you can understand me. I know you can speak English. So why don't we have a lovely chat where we _both_ understand each other?"

The alien walks away. They stand in front of Garfield's pod. After pressing some buttons, Garfield's being shocked as he yells out in pain.

"Leave them alone!" Mia shouts. They ignore her and do it to Bart too. He screams. His screams of pain boil her blood. "You're going to regret doing that. I swear, when I get out of here, I'm going to enjoy ripping you to—"

The alien tortures her. Electricity courses through her body causing it to spasm and twitch. Mia screams out in pain.

"Don't worry. We will get through this."

"I can't wait to get rid of them."

"For once, I'm not influencing you."

 _ **Central City**_

 _ **March 27 14:26 CDT**_

Evan leans forward on his desk. His work isn't going so well. He's messing up on filing paperwork, having an attitude with his sergeant, and picking fights with coworkers. Opening his desk drawer, he pulls out a nearly empty bottle of whiskey. Evan takes a quick swig of it before putting it back inside. His partner, Pat, is getting worried about him. There's a commotion when a thug is ushered in and spots Evan.

"O'Brian, where's that pretty wife of yours?" he taunts.

Evan turns to him. Eyes burning with rage. "What did you just say?"

"I said where's your wife? Normally, she's here all the damn time, right? I _love_ seeing her here. Can't believe she's married to a gringo like you," he laughs.

Evan stands up and walks to the thug. The guy continues to laugh. He looks at Evan right in the eyes.

"I'm waiting for the day for her to dump your sorry ass and go with a _real_ man. I'll make her forget all about you while we share a bed and go _all_ night—" he doesn't get to finish since Evan punches him squarely in the face.

Evan punches him again and again. Everyone standing around didn't move a muscle cause they're all in shock. Normally, Evan is calmer when criminals egg him about Mia but this is completely out of character. He pulls the guy to the ground and continues punching him senselessly. The thug can't even defend himself.

The arresting officers finally get their focus back. They shout for help. Pat and another detective come to the rescue. The officers pull the criminal out from under Evan while the rest pry him off. He wrestles against their hold.

"Let me go!"

"I'm going to sue his ass and this whole station!" the criminal shouts.

"O'Brian, calm down," Pat orders.

"Man, what's up with you lately?"

"Pat. Ortiz. Let me go!"

Captain Singh walks in. "What is going on in here?!"

Evan stops fighting against Pat and Ortiz. Singh looks to Evan. He frowns.

"O'Brian. My office. Now."

"But Captain—"

"NOW."

Pat and Ortiz release him. He rotates his arms a bit to get feeling back in them. Barry comes to the squad room to give some results to Pat.

"Hey Pat. Here are your results," Barry hands him the folder.

"Thanks," he takes them.

Barry watches Evan walk to his desk with a scowl on his face. The man leans in closer to the detective.

"Pat. What's up with Evan?"

"For once, I don't know. We've been partners for two years now and I've _never_ seen him like this before. Maybe you know better, he's _your_ son-in-law after all."

Singh opens his door, "O'Brian, now!" He spots Barry. "Allen, perfect. I need to see you too."

Barry walks over to Singh. Evan follows. Both men enter the office. Singh closes the door behind them. He turns to them with disappointment.

"Evan, what's going on? I've had multiple complaints about you in the last four days from every department in the station. Not only that, I have witnesses who watched you punch someone in custody into a bloody pulp."

"Just having some issues lately," he barely looks at him in the eye.

"Barry? You know anything about this?"

"There's been a...family situation."

Singh leans against his desk with a sympathetic expression. "Everything alright? Is it Iris? Mia?"

"It's Mia."

"What happened?"

Evan speaks up, "She's been ki—"

Barry quickly cuts in, "Sent to the hospital. Came down with a viral infection and has to be under supervision for a while."

"Anything I can do to help?"

Barry shakes his. "Nothing to help Mia out but," he looks to Evan. "Maybe you can give Evan some days off. Just until Mia's out of the hospital."

"Sure, sure. Evan," Evan looks at Singh. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I couldn't come to terms with it. I'm sorry."

Singh sighs. "I'm giving you until the end of the month to get it together. I know Mia is in the hospital and I'm sorry about that but you have a job to protect this city. Understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Now head over to the hospital and go be with your wife."

Evan nods and leaves the office. Barry goes to leave but Singh calls him.

"Barry."

He turns his head, "Yes Captain?"

"Keep an eye on him, will you? Better to have family watching over, you know?"

"Sure thing Captain. Mind if I take Evan back home?"

"Go ahead."

"Thanks," Barry leaves the office.

He grabs Evan after the man grabs his things. The two leave for the car. Making sure no one's around, Barry zooms Evan back to the O'Brian residence. They take a seat in the kitchen.

"Evan, talk to me."

"I'm useless," he mutters.

Barry sighs. "You're not useless."

"Yes, I am. I married into a family of superheroes and I can't do anything to help."

"Iris doesn't have powers and she's a hero in her own way."

Tears form in his eyes. "I've lost her. How can I save her if I can't even find her? I'm the worst detective on the planet."

His voice breaks. He falls into a crying mess. Barry lays a hand on his shoulder. There's only so much he can do to comfort him.

 _ **Pacific Ocean**_

 _ **March 29 12:45 HAST**_

They've been tortured for six days straight. The only time they could relax was when the aliens would stop the experiment to read over the results. During this time, Mia has built a resistance to the electrocution. She meditates each time the alien electrocutes them.

"When are you going to break us out?"

"Can't really do that with the constant electrocution."

"There's a break in-between the tests."

"By the time one test ends, the electric current in me still circulates and when I want to teleport, the next test begins. We're just going to have to wait for the Team to rescue us."

The alien taps on Mia's pod. She opens her eyes. They almost frown at her wondering why she's not responding to the stress test.

"You got something to say?" They speak in their language. "For once, speak English! Actually, how about Spanish? Cause I have some _colorful_ words to tell you."

They walk away. Mia hears some moans from her left. She looks over to see Bart waking up a bit.

"Impulse?"

He groans. "Gahh. B-Blink?"

"Hey bud," she smiles. "How you feeling?"

"I feel like a mosquito in a bug zapper."

"It's going to be okay. I'm going to get you and Beast Boy out of here."

"I trust you," he looks over to her with a small smile. "I'm glad you're not hurt."

"Ha! As if these bozos can hurt me," she lies.

The alien comes back to them again. They watch them intensely.

"What's with bug person?"

"Don't know. They're not really in a talking mood. Only makes chattering sounds like a beetle."

"Well, that sounds horri—"

A new test starts. Bart screams in pain.

"Impulse!" Mia glares daggers at the alien. "That's it!"

Before the alien can start the test on her, she teleports out of her pod. Alarms go off. Mia runs at the alien and puts them into a choke hold.

"You're my ticket out of here."

"What happened to waiting for rescue?"

"Decided to move the timetable up a bit."

Guards run into the lab with their weapons aiming at Mia. She tightens her hold on the alien. The alien starts to choke a little.

"Tell them to lower their weapons. Now!"

The alien speaks in their language. They lower their weapons. Mia starts walking towards the lab entrance. As she walks, the guards move to keep her in their line of sight. She makes it to the entrance. Her back faces it and before she teleports, it opens then someone knocks her out. Mia's hold on the alien is loose as she falls to the ground.

"Gratitude Black Beetle," the alien rubs their neck.

"How did this meatbag escape?"

"This one possesses the meta-gene to teleport. She will be of upmost importance in the future."

Black Beetle turns to the guards, "Get this one back into its pod and make sure it stays there."

The guards follow his instructions. They grab Mia by her arms and drag her back to the pod. Once placed inside, the alien starts the stress test on her. She gives out an ear-piercing scream which is music to their ears.

 _ **Central City**_

 _ **March 30 09:48 CDT**_

Tulio and Miguel make their daily visit to Evan. Barry gave them an update on how he's doing since he checks up on him for a bit out of his day before going on some League business. This time they bring Wally along hoping the man will open up more. They arrive at the door.

"How's he been?" Wally asks.

"At the beginning he seemed fine but lately..." Miguel trails off.

"Let's just see how he's doing," Tulio states.

He opens the door and a foul odor wafts out. They gag and cover their noses quickly. With looks of uncertainty between them, Wally heads in first. Looking around he sees, at least, two dozen empty bottles of booze. The kitchen is barely touched. Old take out cartons thrown around in the living room. Wally finds Evan on the floor drinking from another bottle.

"Dude."

Evan looks up, "Wally? What are you doing here?"

"Came to check up on you. Jeez man, you're worse than Roy before he found the original Speedy."

"Does it look like I care?"

Wally notices his unshaved face, unruly hair and stained clothes. "Yes, I believe so."

"Heh." He takes another swig, "Miguel, Tulio, come on out."

They walk in. Seeing how the apartment looks makes them worry for their brother-in-law.

"Ev, put the bottle down. I think you've had enough," Tulio states.

"I haven't actually."

He goes to take another drink but Wally snatches it out of his hand. Wally heads into the kitchen and dumps it down the drain. Evan groans as he watches Wally do this. The speedster walks back in with his arms crossed over his chest.

"What? You going to ground me?" Evan taunts.

"What do you think Mia's going to say when she sees you in this state?" Wally asks.

He laughs, "Like we're ever going to find her."

"Don't say that," Miguel adds.

"Aquaman has been working hard trying to find them," Tulio states.

"And what about Nightwing? What's he been up to lately? Playing mahjong with the local grandmas?" Evan sasses.

"Evan—" Wally's cut off.

"HE BROUGHT HER BACK INTO THIS LIFE. HE EVEN DID IT TO ARTEMIS AND LOOK WHAT HAPPENED TO HER!"

"You need to get cleaned up," he softly says.

"Why should I?!"

"Because you never know when Mia is going to walk in through that door. Don't do this man. She's going to need you now more than ever," Wally reasons.

Evan releases the anger he's been keeping inside. His body shakes with sadness. Soon Wally's phone begins to ring. He looks over to his cousins.

"I've got to answer this."

"Go."

"We'll take care of him."

The Twins begin to clean up the place and Evan. Wally walks outside to answer the phone.

"Hello?"

'How's Evan?'

"Dick, he's deep man."

'Is he over the edge?'

"Count yourself lucky he isn't. If we didn't show up today, I think he might have."

'I'm sorry.'

"I don't know why you're apologizing to me when you should be apologizing to him." Wally sighs, "Why are you calling Dick?"

'We found them.'

"Thank god."

'I'll let you know more later,' Nightwing ends the call.

Wally heads back inside to give a hand cleaning up the place. With his superspeed, it's done quickly. Miguel forces Evan into the bathroom so the man can finally take a hot shower and make himself more presentable.

Tulio stands next to Wally, "Nightwing?"

"Yep."

"Got a location on Mia, Bart and Garfield?"

"Yep."

"Good."

"Are we going to tell Evan?"

They glance at each other.

"Not yet," they say in sync.

"At least this nightmare is finally over," Wally comments.

Tulio nods in agreement. They watch Miguel help Evan get himself presentable. _"We're getting you guys back home,"_ Wally thinks to himself.


End file.
